


Baby, We're Like Ocean Waves

by maeung



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Surfers, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Mystery, i want them to be surfers and live in an idyllic summer town sue me, ig its fluffy, what goes on in beach 127
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeung/pseuds/maeung
Summary: Welcome to Beach 127, where the hot boys surf and Doyoung just wants to survive the summer. Too bad one of the hot surfer boys has other plans, plans that involve a dark secret in their sleepy little town.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> hi my name's lissa and i posted on twitter about a surfing werewolf au that i'd somehow make work and here it is yall

“Say it.”

“Fuck you.”

“Say it!”

Doyoung’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll kick you out.”

“C’mon Doie, just say it and I’ll stop bugging you!”

Doyoung groaned, “have a scooptastic day,” he muttered, rolling his eyes when Taeyong’s laughter filled the small frozen yogurt shop.

“When do you get out?” Taeyong asked while reaching over the counter and grabbing a spoon to shovel his disgusting concoction of peanut butter and pineapple froyo into his mouth.

Doyoung checked his phone discreetly under the counter. “Like ten minutes?”

Taeyong grinned around his neon green spoon. “Sweet, we’re going out to the beach then. We’ll grab Taeil on the way.”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow, “do I get a choice in this?”

Taeyong snorted, “do you ever?”

 

Ten minutes later, Doyoung was dragged out of the blissfully air conditioned store into the hot parking lot, a wave of heat immediately smacking him in the face. “Jesus Christ Taeyong, I haven’t even changed out of my uniform,” he complained as Taeyong pushed him into the passenger seat of his old beat-up blue Jeep he lovingly referred to as Irene. The paint was rusted and chipping in places, and the doors and roof were completely removed, allowing Doyoung to grip onto the frame when Taeyong started the car, jerking the entire thing to life.

“I always have swim trunks in my car,” Taeyong yelled over the sound of the engine and the wind as he whipped out of the parking lot. “They’re in her glove department!”

Doyoung opened up the compartment and pulled out a faded pair of red trunks, vinyl lettering flaking off of the hem. “This is just your lifeguard uniform.”

“Just wear them,” Taeyong said, “it’s not like you have any other options.”

“Whatever, I’ll change at Moon’s.”

Moon’s was the fanciest restaurant in all of San Marco Township, a beachside formal dining experience that’s claim to fame was the freshest seafood in the area. It was also owned by the parents of the third member of Doyoung’s little trio, Moon Taeil, who worked there as a waiter.

Taeyong’s Jeep sputtered to a stop outside of the classy restaurant, and he immediately hopped out of the car and tossed his keys to the valet. “You know where to park her, Jungwoo. Take care of Irene for me.”

The bored looking worker sighed before jumping into Taeyong’s old car and driving off. Doyoung gripped the swim trunks in his hands and shook his head. “We really don’t belong here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taeyong said, strolling into the blissfully air conditioned building. His ratty swim trunks and sleeveless tank were juxtaposed against the luxurious interior, like a beacon of middle-class mediocrity in the sea of high-end patrons and the classy beach wood flooring.

“Hi! Welcome to-oh god, you guys again.”

Taeyong grinned charmingly at the concierge while Doyoung sighed. “Sicheng, hey.”

The suited chinese man rolled his eyes, “Taeil’s in the back, you know where to find him.”

“Oh sweet, thanks. Hey, do you know if you guys are serving-”

“Those weird pastries filled with cream cheese? Yeah, just ask Taeil about them.” Sicheng pointed to a door behind him, and Doyoung quickly thanked the other while Taeyong dragged him into the back kitchen. The area was bustling but Taeyong and Doyoung expertly dodged the various waiters and chefs running between the countertops until they finally reached a small office towards the back.

“Taeil! We’re here to save you,” Taeyong slammed open the door, grinning when he was greeted with a groan.

“Save me from what?” Taeil looked up from the desk, the coat from his uniform thrown across the back of his chair. “I was about to head home for the day.” He set down the thick book he was holding, slipping a sticky note in between its pages.

“He’s bored,” Doyoung said, leaning against the wall, “wanna go to the beach?”

Taeil’s face twisted, “do I?”

“Yes, you do.” Taeyong frowned, “you need to get outside more.” He marched over to the office window, that was currently covered by thick curtains. “See? You’re like a vampire, honestly. When’s the last time you’ve seen the sun?” Taeyong ripped aside the fabric, bright sunlight quickly streaming into the room.

“Ah, the hideous light of the daystar,” Taeil deadpanned, but nonetheless stood up and slipped his book into a small tote bag. “I’ll go, but you won’t get me close to the water-”

“I know, I know,” Taeyong waved his hand, “I wasn’t even gonna bother with that one. You can just sit and read in the lifeguard stand if you want. You and Doyoung can even be nerds and chat about the latest book you’ve read or something to further your 45-year-old-lady agenda.”

“Fuck you Taeyong.”

Taeil smiled, “sounds nice.”

 

Doyoung squinted against the harsh light of the sun. Even the sunglasses perched on his nose couldn’t stop the blinding rays from hurting his eyes as Taeyong sped down the highway, singing obnoxiously to what vaguely sounded like country and rap mixed together. “I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road-”

“Jesus Christ,” Doyoung yelled while mindlessly hanging his hand out the window and threading his fingers in the wind.

“What?” Taeyong yelled back, the air rushing through the windows.

“Your music taste sucks!”

Taeyong cranked it up louder, and Doyoung was afraid that his Jeep would fall apart at its seems, going 90 mph. “Bitch!”

“Stop arguing and just drive!” Taeil piped up from where he was sprawled out on the backseat, legs propped up on one side and his head resting on the other.

Doyoung was about to spit back a response when Taeyong whipped the car to the side, skidding into the next exit and suddenly slowing down. “Fuck!” He cried out while smushed against the seat.

Taeyong grinned maniacally and Doyoung wondered how much effort it would take to send one of his only friends to their local hospital for a psych evaluation. Probably too much. Taeyong rolled to a stop at a red light, his rough voice still singing along to radio. “I got horses in the back, horse tack is attached,” with each line he said it directly to Doyoung complete with a disgusting wink.

“This is literally the worst song in the world.”

Taeil pulled himself up, leaning forward and against the backs of Doyoung and Taeyong’s seats. “I dunno, it’s kind of catchy.”

“Hat is matte black-”

“It’s fucking country rap,” Doyoung frowned, “what are we, from the South?”

Taeil opened his mouth to respond but suddenly a smooth engine purred to a stop next to them. Doyoung allowed his eyes to trail over to the other car, his stomach dropping when he saw gleaming red paint nearly as bright as the lifeguard shorts Taeyong had shoved Doyoung into, and three brightly colored surfboards peeking out of the back.

Taeyong’s neck nearly snapped when he turned to look over, his face immediately turning red.

Doyoung understood why, because a second later, the light turned green and Johnny Seo revved the engine of his red convertible Mustang and sped past them, laughing along with the two other passengers in his car. Doyoung made eye contact with one of them and he immediately looked down.

“Oh my god.”

“Holy shit,” Taeil said, his eyes wide.

Taeyong recovered from his embarrassment, snorting as he drove down the road. “I hate them. They think they’re such top shit just because everyone in SM High thought they were hot.”

“They are though,” Taeil said, “Nakamoto Yuta caused a riot in junior year when he got a haircut.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Taeyong rolled his eyes, “I remember when fifteen girls asked Johnny Seo to prom and he rejected all of them.”

“Like the time Jung Jaehyun made four girls cry on Valentine’s Day?” Doyoung frowned, “they’re so cold to everyone.”

“I heard they all live in the same house or something, like what?” Taeyong turned the steering wheel and into a busy sand filled parking lot, the sound of children laughing and waves crashing against the shore quickly filling their ears.

Doyoung snorted and jumped out of the Jeep, slamming the door behind him and grabbing one of the many towels strewn about the car. “They only talk to each other.” He breathed in, salt hitting the back of his throat.

“Huh, weird,” Taeil frowned and shielded his eyes from the sun. “But hey, at least we won’t have to see them again, we’ve graduated.”

Taeyong sighed before perking up again, grabbing a long surfboard from the back of his car. He grinned at Doyoung over the edge of his lime green board. “Let’s go!” Taeyong said before dashing across the hot sand.

 

Doyoung sighed happily, his brain almost like mush under the warm sun. The sound of the waves against the sand and Taeil’s pages turning lulling him into a nap. He was about to drift off to sleep when Taeil’s laugh shook him awake, Doyoung blinking against the bright light as blue spots ran across his vision. He rubbed his eyes quickly to stop it, squinting up at Taeil. “What?”

“Huh? Oh nothing, just something in this book.” He muttered before looking up into the waves. Doyoung followed his gaze, grinning when he witnessed Taeyong falling into the water.

He could hear his friend’s distant laughter as he stood up, his wet hair hanging over his eyes as he waved at Taeil and Doyoung.

Taeyong ran his hands through his hair, pushing it back as water ran down his chest. Doyoung rolled his eyes when he saw the way a group of girls who were playing volleyball on the shore stopped to stare and turned bright red when his friend smiled shyly at them.

“Taeyong doesn’t understand his own power,” Taeil laughed.

“That’s normal,” Doyoung said. His eyes caught someone standing in the background and they narrowed, “that’s not normal.” His eyebrows furrowed as he watched Nakamoto Yuta sitting on his board, bobbing in the waves with his eyes on Taeyong the entire time.

Yuta suddenly jerked back, looking up at where Taeil and Doyoung were watching him and he shook his head, his wet hair spinning around like a dog after a bath. He looked down before Doyoung saw Jung Jaehyun and Johnny Seo swim up to him, smacking his back and laughing about something. Yuta was immediately back to normal, baring his famous smile that even Doyoung had to admit was blinding.

Meanwhile, Taeyong had dragged himself back onto the sand and walked over to them, easily accepting the towel Taeil handed him. “What’s up?” He asked, rubbing the towel through his hair.

Doyoung kept his eyes on the waves when suddenly his gaze was caught by someone staring back at him. He flinched under Jung Jaehyun’s gaze, quickly averting his eyes. “Nothing.”

Taeyong shrugged, flopping down on the sand next to Doyoung. “I’m gonna take a quick nap,” he said and flung his forearm across his eyes.

Doyoung nodded wordlessly while Taeil turned back to his book. He waited a few seconds before his eyes darted back to the ocean. He was met with Jaehyun’s staring again, but this time Doyoung maintained the gaze, his eyes narrowing. Once was a coincidence, but twice?

Doyoung could just barely make out Jaehyun smirking before he turned back to his friends, like nothing even happened.

He frowned. For his own sake, he would do the same.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung thinks he might be going crazy.

By the time Doyoung got home, it was nighttime. The sound of Taeyong’s car grinding against the gravel as he pulled out of Doyoung’s driveway filled his ears while he pushed against the screen door. It creaked open and Doyoung stepped into a dark house, slowly toeing off his shoes.

_ 12:03 AM. _ The kitchen clock flashed as Doyoung flipped the lights on, smiling when he saw a plastic wrap covered plate of food on the table.

_ Doyoung, here’s some dinner for you. Love, Mom _

Doyoung ripped the sticky note off of the plate and hummed to himself as he stuffed it into the microwave. The soft hum of the machine filled the silent house and Doyoung leaned against the kitchen counter, setting a heavy book down on the table with a soft thud. Taeil had finished it on the beach and handed it to Doyoung afterwards in their unspoken agreement that they would always share books in order to be able to discuss them later. Doyoung snorted. No wonder Taeyong thought they were old ladies. 

He was reading the faded script on the side,  _ Nightshade, _ when the microwave went off and Doyoung jumped up to stop the loud beeps emanating from the machine. He was trying to get the plate out without scorching his fingertips when someone padded up behind him, their socks whisper soft against the tiled floor.

“Doyoung?” A tired voice asked.

Doyoung turned around and smiled softly, “hey Jeno, did I wake you up?” He set down his plate with a clatter before he opened a drawer and rummaged around for a fork.

Doyoung’s little brother yawned, tugging the blanket wrapped around him tighter and his hair flopped in front of his face. “No, I was waiting for you.”

Doyoung frowned, picking at some slightly overcooked chicken. “Jeno, you don’t have to. I get home late, it’s summer.”

“I know,” Jeno smiled serenely and pulled out a chair, hopping into it next to Doyoung, “that’s why I’m up late too.”

“You’re going to ruin your sleep schedule when you go back to school.”

“That’s so far away,’ Jeno waved his hand. Doyoung rolled his eyes and offered a bite of food to Jeno, who automatically opened his mouth for Doyoung’s fork.

“Are Injun and Jisung already asleep?”

Jeno smiled at the mention of his friends, “Injun went to bed an hour ago, but Jisung and I are still playing Overwatch together. I just took a break to say hi.”

“Video games are bad for you,” Doyoung tsked and pushed Jeno’s hair out of his eyes.

“Whatever.” Jeno stood up and stretched his arms out. “He’s waiting for me so I’m gonna go back up. Are you going to bed now?”

Doyoung glanced at the book on the table. “Probably not, I might sit out on the porch and read for a little while.”

Jeno nodded before unraveling the blanket around his shoulders and letting it rest across Doyoung’s. “You’ll probably fall asleep out there, again.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes but tucked his arms under the soft blanket. “Thanks. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Jeno said before he ducked out of the kitchen, padding softly up the stairs.

Doyoung slipped his now empty plate into the sink and grabbed the thick book, his fingers skimming across the raised lettering. He pulled open the glass sliding door, arms only slightly strained, and stepped onto a concrete back porch. The soft sounds of night buzzed around him, and Doyoung flicked on the porchlight before settling into a cushioned outdoor chair, tucking his entire body into the blanket.

 

There was an annoying firefly that kept trying to land on the page of Doyoung’s book, forcing him to stop every 30 seconds or so to swat at it. In all honesty, warding off bugs was a lot more interesting in the book. Doyoung rolled his eyes when he stumbled upon yet another cringe-worthy scene.

_ “Mate,” the handsome man towered over my form, his steel blue eyes bore into mine as I breathed in his pine-like scent. _

_ “W-what?” I stuttered, looking down while fiddling with my long, wavy, chestnut brown strands. _

_ “You’re mine,” Axton growled. His breath felt warm against my neck and I looked up at him with wide eyes. _

_ “What does that mean?” I asked. His arm skimmed against mine and I jumped when what felt like sparks of electricity shot through my body. _

_ “I’m an Alpha, and you’re my mate Kyla Rae.” _

Doyoung groaned, nearly closing the book. “Jesus Christ, Taeil. You really picked a shitty one,” he muttered. How did this even get published? Doyoung had read better stuff when he was 14 on Wattpad.

He sighed, looking back down. He would still finish the book. If anything, he’d be able to talk to Taeil about how horrible it was in a few days. However, that didn’t stop the headache from forming whenever he glanced down at the absolutely horrendous writing.

Doyoung set the book down, rubbing his temples with his fingers, his eyes blinking heavily under the golden porch light. He glanced at his phone,  _ 1:46 AM. _ It was pretty late, maybe he should head to bed. Doyoung glanced up to peer into a second story window. Jeno’s window was dark, and Doyoung figured the teen must have finally gone to bed.

He stood up, one hand gripping the blanket, the other wrapped around his book. He turned his neck, cracking the joints with a soft pop as his tired eyes drifted blearily across his backyard, staring out into the woods that lined the back of the property. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes. Doyoung froze, his veins turning to ice as a large black mass stumbled out of the trees towards him.

Doyoung squeaked as a pair of amber eyes stared back at him and he slowly made out the shape of a giant wolf. He was frozen in fear under the intimidating gaze of the creature as it inched closer to him. He finally snapped out of it when the wolf lurched forward, releasing a pitiful yelp that rung through the air as it hit the ground.

“Holy shit,” Doyoung flew into his house in a flurry of motion, the book and blanket dropping to the ground as he slammed the sliding glass door shut. Doyoung panted behind the door, his eyes wide and horrified. His heart raced and he couldn’t take his eyes off of the gigantic wolf in his backyard. Its shoulders were hunched over, and its brown fur gleamed under the moonlight as the canine lifted its head and looked back at Doyoung. Its eyes were clouded over in pain, and despite himself, Doyoung felt his heart tug with sympathy.

From behind the glass, Doyoung eyed the way the light brown fur was matted and dark around its hind leg. The wolf let out a low whine, attempted to stand up before collapsing again.  _ Help me,  _ it seemed to say.

Doyoung tapped his foot nervously, his eyes flicking back and forth between the animal and his hands before he groaned. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Doyoung muttered, his entire body screaming that this was a bad idea as he reached under the kitchen sink and grabbed the First Aid Kit his family always kept there. The glass door was even heavier than usual as it slid open and Doyoung stumbled onto the concrete patio, brandishing the small red box in front of him like a shield. “Here wolfie, I’m just trying to help,” Doyoung said nervously.

The wolf whined back but cocked his head as if to ask if Doyoung was serious.

Doyoung’s feet hit the dew-covered grass, the cold sensation assuring him that yes, this was actually happening. He crept up to the large animal, keeping his hands outstretched. The wolf let out a heavy sigh as Doyoung approached it, now close enough to see the beast’s chest rise and fall. Doyoung reached out a trembling hand and was about to withdraw it and sprint back inside when the wolf nudged its head forward, allowing Doyoung to rest his palm against its forehead.

“Okay,” Doyoung whispered as his shaking fingers thread through its coarse fur. “I’m petting a wolf.”

The wolf’s eyes closed as Doyoung scratched its head, leaning more into his touch. It seemed to bare a large grin before its tail started moving up and down. The wolf tried to lean forward even more but then it suddenly froze. Doyoung yanked his hand back in fear until the wolf let out a pain-filled yelp. His eyes glanced over its form and he quickly spotted a large gash on its hind leg.

It was ugly, torn open and raw. Blood seeped into the wolf’s dark fur and the grass below and Doyoung winced, opening up the small kit and locating a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a small hand towel. “Uh, this will probably sting a little,” he said, immediately feeling stupid for talking to an animal that couldn’t understand him. He poured the liquid onto the cloth and dabbed at the cut. The wolf tensed below him and Doyoung let his other hand stroke its side, cooing softly as it relaxed. Doyoung hissed at the sight of the broken flesh. “How did you get this?” He muttered.

The wolf whined in response and Doyoung applied pressure onto the wound with one hand, the other dipping into the First Aid Kit to grab a thick roll of gauze. Doyoung nudged at the wolf’s side before it rolled over, allowing Doyoung to start slowly wrapping the strips of fabric around the bloody gash.

Doyoung worked meticulously, trying to wrap the bandages as tightly and neatly as he could but the wolf whined in protest, pushing his snout against Doyoung’s side. “Stop being a baby,” Doyoung rolled his eyes. The wolf seemed to frown before it leaned back, sulking. It turned its head away from him with a ‘humph.’

Doyoung clipped the end of the bandages, attaching it tightly around the wolf’s leg. He tsked, threading his hands through its thick mane. “Are you ignoring me?” Doyoung asked.

The wolf turned its head back, eyeing Doyoung before turning around again.

“I’m sorry I called you a baby,” Doyoung smiled, “you’re a very handsome wolf.” The wolf tentatively faced Doyoung again, still resting on its side. “I wrapped your leg.” Doyoung leaned back, packing up the medical supplies into the First Aid Kit. He stood up to leave, but was stopped by the wolf’s snout reaching out and its teeth grabbing Doyoung’s t-shirt. Doyoung yelped as he was yanked back down, his body slamming against the wolf’s side.

“What the fuck!” Doyoung said, muffled against its fur. The wolf let out a pleasant sound as it sidled out from under Doyoung, before it lifted itself up slowly. “Oh, you can walk now?” Doyoung glanced at the leg, which was shaking slightly but still upright. The wolf looking down its snout at him before it lurched forward, landing heavily on Doyoung’s stomach.

“Ah!” Doyoung yelled, his chest heavy as he wrestled with the furry beast on top of him. “Get off me!” Doyoung could’ve sworn that the wolf stuck its tongue out at him, but it ducked its head down into Doyoung’s arms before he could look closer. It closed its eyes, only opening them to let out a growl whenever Doyoung attempted to wriggle away. Doyoung sighed, resting his head back against the grass with an armful of animal. How the hell did this happen?

Doyoung stared up at the sky, counting the stars silently as the wolf’s breathing slowly evened out. His own eyes felt heavy and he struggled to keep them open underneath the oddly comforting weight of the wolf. It kind of felt like a giant blanket that kept him warm from the cool ground beneath him. Doyoung let his eyes flutter shut, afterall, a few minutes wouldn’t hurt.

 

“What are you doing out here?” Doyoung jerked up, hand sliding against the dewy grass. His thick blanket tangled around his waist as Doyoung squinted under the harsh morning light. “Hello? Doyoung?” Jeno waved his hand in front of Doyoung’s face, his other hand holding a frozen waffle covered in sugar.

“What the fuck,” Doyoung groaned, running his hands through his hair. He blinked blearily, “I must have fallen asleep.”

“On the grass?”

“Yeah, I-” Suddenly, Doyoung remembered everything that happened last night. He stood up with a start, blanket settling into a pile on the yard. “Did you see anything?”

Jeno raised an eyebrow and took a large bite from his disgustingly sugary breakfast. “No,” he said, his mouth full. “What was I supposed to have seen?”

“Uh, I-” Doyoung mumbled, “oh forget it.” He was probably being crazy. Reading that book so late at night must have made him hallucinate. Although, he really didn’t remember picking up his blanket again, did the wolf—no, it must have been a coincidence. He just imagined the entire thing.

Jeno shrugged. “Okay.” He turned back towards the house. “Mom wants you back inside because she thinks you’re going to get a cold. Also, she wants to know why you took the First Aid Kit last night.”

Jeno’s voice faded in the distance as Doyoung gulped, eyes zooming in on the bright red box clearly labeled ‘First Aid’ next to him. He slowly opened it, his stomach dropping when he saw an empty spot, right where the gauze usually was.

Doyoung stood up, ignoring Jeno’s rambling as he scanned the trees.

_ What happened last night? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aye wassup y’all welcome back to the dumbest au concept in the world


	3. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung wants to know why Jung Jaehyun won't stop staring at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg i promised i'd update every few days so here's to hoping that i stick to that schedule!!!

“Have a scooptastic day!”

Doyoung groaned, peeking out from where he was hunched over the counter. “How do you do it?” He asked his coworker. He already had a headache from the bright colors, smell of sugar, and disgustingly cheesy pop music blaring through the speakers.

Ten turned around and grinned, “it’s all about fueling your frustration into being aggressively nice.” He adjusted his visor and reached around Doyoung’s body to adjust a cup full of plastic spoons. “Besides, I’m excited.”

“Why?” Doyoung asked, going over to the toppings bar and stealing a sample cup full of candy. “Anything special going on?” He asked around a mouthful of m&ms.

“Actually, yes. Kun’s coming after my shift and taking me out.” Ten smiled, “he’s so cute.”

Doyoung shrugged, “that’s nice, I guess.”

“Thanks for the enthusiasm.”

“I dunno, I’m just not super into relationships. Sorry.” Doyoung said, mindlessly grabbing a towel and scrubbing one of the counters.

Ten snorted, “you could say that again. I remember you in highschool, Mr. Class President, always too good to date one of us normal people.”

Doyoung glared at Ten and threw his wet towel at him. Ten sputtered and spit out a mouthful of soap. “I remember you too, Mr. My Name Is Too Long So Call Me Ten. Always hanging around with the popular kids and skipping class to get high in the stadium.”

“Popular kids?” Ten raised an eyebrow, “yeah right, my friends are lame.”

“Not really.”

“Yukhei’s the dumbest person I’ve ever met. Jaemin, Mark and Donghyuck are annoying, Chenle is pretentious, and Yangyang is actually insane.”

“Yeah but you hang out with the Big Three.”

Ten laughed, “you mean Johnny, Yuta and Jaehyun? Oh my god, do people actually call them that? We thought it was just a rumor.”

Doyoung’s cheeks flushed, “um, maybe.”

“That’s funny,” Ten said between laughs, “but really, they’re a bunch of dumbasses too. Everyone at our school was in love with them, but honestly, I think it’s so stupid. Did you know I once watched Johnny deepthroat a banana?”

Doyoung’s face twisted in disgust. “Ew, why?”

“For fun,” Ten shrugged, “and he wanted to prove that he could do it.” He shuddered, “I still get nightmares about ‘John’s banana’—hi, welcome to FroZone!” The bell rang as a group of customers entered and Doyoung and Ten instinctively plastered fake smiles on their faces.

Doyoung’s phone buzzed, but it wasn’t until the group of people left and they were left in an empty store again that he checked it.

**[TAEYONG]: lol look at this meme about dogs**

**[TAEYONG]: <sent link>**

**[TAEIL]: im at work rn and i know u are too, get off ur phone dumbass**

**[TAEYONG]: :( im bored**

**[DOYOUNG]: taeyong’s gonna let a kid drown again**

**[TAEYONG]: ill have u kno im a very attentive lifeguard so stfu**

**[TAEIL]: you almost let me drown last time**

**[TAEYONG]: eh**

**[TAEYONG]: <sent link>**

Doyoung mentally ‘awww’ed at the sight of the puppies Taeyong sent into the groupchat.

“What are you lookin’ at?” Ten asked.

“Taeyong keeps sending photos of dogs to our groupchat.”

Ten glanced at Doyoung’s phone and smiled. “Are you a dog person?”

“I love them. Actually, I really like all animals,” Doyoung smiled, “and Jeno’s a cat person so we have three of them.”

Ten hummed thoughtfully, “that’s good. I like dogs too.” He smirked, like he knew something Doyoung didn’t.

Doyoung’s brows furrowed, not sure how to interpret that expression. “Is this like a furry thing or —hi, welcome to FroZone!” He said automatically when the doorbell rang again, not even looking up.

Ten’s eyes flashed murderously at Doyoung behind his wide smile as he turned to face the customer. “How can I help you—oh hey guys!” Ten’s fake grin turned real. Doyoung glanced up and his stomach dropped at the sight of two of ‘The Big Three’ walking in.

Johnny Seo bared his classic ‘cool guy from Chicago’ smile as he nodded back, holding the door open for Jung Jaehyun to walk in, eyes hidden behind a pair of aviators. Jaehyun ran his fingers through his hair, the other hand coming up to take off his sunglasses and tuck them into the collar of his hideous-yet-somehow-trendy hawaiian shirt, and Doyoung nearly cursed. It was honestly unfair, how some people didn’t even have to try and could look so annoyingly attractive. “What’s up Tennie,” Johnny leaned casually against the counter. “We were in the area and decided to stop in for a treat.” He glanced at Doyoung, “hey, Kim Doyoung right? I think we both went to SM High.”

Doyoung grimaced, “yeah I remember. We had four classes together. I was your class president.”

Johnny moved past the faux pas like nothing happened. “That’s cool, man. So what’s your plans after graduation?” Behind Johnny, Jaehyun glanced at Doyoung but stayed silent. Doyoung struggled to avoid his gaze, feeling almost like his soul was being stared into.

“I’m just going to Neo Tech. Economics.”

Johnny nodded. Everyone knew about Neo Tech. Officially called the Neo Cultural Institute of Technology, the college was right outside of San Marco Township, and probably 99% of the students who graduated from SM High went there, got a degree, found a job within five miles, got married, had a family, and then stayed there until they died, where they would mostly likely be buried in one of the two graveyards in town. “Us too.”

“We’ll see you next year,” Jaehyun’s deep voice rang through the store for the first time since he entered, his intimidating stare juxtaposed by the sample cup filled with bright pink strawberry froyo.

Doyoung gulped. “Probably.”

“Are you guys going to 127 after this?” Ten asked, pointing in the direction of the beach. “I’m going out with Kun after the shift, but I kinda want to hit the waves afterwards.”

“Nah, not today,” Johnny said, grabbing his own sample cup. “Yuta has some weird thing about us going to the beach without him.”

Ten frowned, “what’s he up to now?”

Johnny glanced at Doyoung. “Business.” He said quickly. “Just some payback for something that happened last night.”

Ten briefly looked at Jaehyun. “Oh, I forgot.”

Jaehyun leaned against the counter, right in front of Doyoung and he jerked back. “Sorry,” Jaehyun muttered.

“I-it’s fine,” Doyoung stuttered, ignoring the way heat radiated off of the other man.

Jaehyun stared at him again, slowly licking the frozen yogurt. Doyoung thought this was all very weird, but his cheeks burned red nonetheless. However, he was feeling brave so he raised his head and met Jaehyun’s gaze, raising an eyebrow. Amber eyes blinked back at him and Doyoung got the nagging feeling that he had seen them somewhere before. Jaehyun muttered something that Doyoung couldn’t make out before he looked away. “Johnny, let’s go. We gotta meet up with Mark and Hyuck before they kill each other.”

Doyoung recognizes the names as students in Jeno’s grade.

Johnny nodded, “shit, you’re right.”

“Are they arguing again?” Ten frowned.

“You know how kids that age can be,” Jaehyun said, “they’re still growing.”

Doyoung’s brows furrowed. Weren’t they already 17?

Johnny sighed, tossing his sample cup into the trash can. “See you later Tennie. Tell Kun I said hi. And it was nice to meet you, Doyoung.” Doyoung didn’t tell Johnny that he had sat next to him in psychology for a year, instead waving as Johnny yanked open the door, letting a blast of hot air into the cool store.

“Bye.” Jaehyun said, making eye contact with Doyoung again before he slipped his sunglasses back on, following Johnny out. Doyoung smiled tentatively, eyes following the gross looking floral print as he walked into the parking lot, hopping into Johnny’s obnoxious convertible.

“Huh,” Doyoung said.

“What’s up?” Ten asked.

“Did Jaehyun get hurt surfing? He has a slight limp.”

Ten froze from where he was wiping a spot of chocolate sauce off of one of the tables. “Something like that.” He said vaguely, and they dropped the subject.

 

It was late by the time he ended his shift. Doyoung’s car drove down the quiet dark streets before he finally pulled into a fancy but familiar driveway belonging to a large suburban home, a dim light in one of the upper windows shining in his vision. Doyoung jumped out of his car into the humid night air, pulling out his keys and unlocking the front door.

He toed off his shoes underneath the high-ceilinged entrance, flicking on one of the light switches.

“Oh hello dear.”

Doyoung turned around and smiled, “hey Mrs. Moon.” Taeil’s mom emerged out of a dark hallway leading towards the living room. “Do you know where Taeil is?”

“He’s upstairs, like usual. I think Taeyong’s there too. Can I get you anything?” Mrs. Moon asked, smiling softly at Doyoung and sipping from her large glass of dark red wine.

“I’m good,” Doyoung waved his hand, “you can go back to watching the Bachelorette.”

Mrs. Moon laughed, “you know me too well.” She said before retreating back into the hallway, towards the sounds of people laughing from the television. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks Mrs. Moon,” Doyoung said before bounding up the familiar staircase, two steps at a time.

“No I don’t think it’ll work,” Taeil’s soft voice meets Doyoung’s ears from the cracked open door of his bedroom. “You can’t use that stuff.”

“Why not?” Taeyong’s voice responded, “it’s worked before—”

“Hey guys,” Doyoung barged into Taeil’s room. “What are you working on?”

Taeil closed a heavy dark brown book on his desk as Doyoung’s friends turned around to look at him. “Taeyong wanted to try to recreate one of the restaurant’s recipes but some of the ingredients are hard to get or expensive so we’re trying to work out substitutions.”

Taeyong rolled his eyes. “He keeps shooting down my ideas. Although, I don’t see why he just can’t give me the ingredients, I know he has them.”

“My parents own them, not me.” Taeil frowned.

Taeyong waved his hand, “irrelevant. That didn’t stop us from breaking into Doie’s parent’s stash of liquor.”

Doyoung flopped down on Taeil’s bed, groaning. “I remember that. I was grounded for a month.” He struggled to get comfortable. “Jesus Christ Taeil, do you sleep on a rock or something?”

Taeil shrugged, “I have back issues.” He stood up, picking up the dark book and slipping it into a drawer on his desk. “Also I don’t sleep a lot.”

“He spends too much time reading, our little bookworm.” Taeyong smiled and sat on the bed next to Doyoung.

“Oh! Speaking of, I started reading that book you gave me,  _ Nightshade.  _ It’s fucking terrible.”

Taeil pouted, “I kinda liked it.”

Taeyong sighed, “I forgot, you’re both little bookworms.”

Doyoung scoffed, “werewolves? Really Taeil? It’s so unrealistic it makes my head hurt. That’s not even addressing the awful writing style-”

“You just need a bigger imagination. How far along are you?” Taeil asked.

“Like two chapters?”

“Huh, it was a quick read for me.” Taeil hummed, “is it really that bad that you can’t get through it?”

“Not really.” Doyoung said tentatively, “I was, uh, distracted last night?”

Taeyong gasped, “what’s this?” He grinned, “have a secret little rendezvous? Maybe a handsome lover on the side? What have you been hiding from us, Doyoung you dirty bastard!”

Doyoung sat up, whipping one of Taeil’s pillows at Taeyong. The lifeguard quickly leaped off the bed, maniacally laughing. Taeil’s soft protests about his pillow were ignored as Taeyong was chased around the room. “No! It was nothing like that!”

“Doie, you really don’t have to tell us when you jack off. We’re very proud of you but it’s honestly unnecessary—” Taeyong’s declaration that he wanted his life to be cut off short was interrupted by Doyoung tackling him to the ground.

“You little bitch!”

Taeil sighed, before he stood up, pulling Doyoung off of a laughing Taeyong. “I’m too old for this.”

Doyoung glared at Taeyong. “He started it.”

Taeyong smiled. “Sure. But if you weren’t being fucked or thinking about being fucked, then what were you doing?”

Doyoung scowled, “I was helping a wounded animal, thank you very much.”

Taeyong rolled his eyes, “sure you were, Belle. What, did you start singing and summon birds too? Did a talking wardrobe give you a magical yellow dress?”

“Oh fuck off.”

Taeil frowned, “did you actually? That could’ve been dangerous. What happened?”

“It was really weird. I was reading, and was about to go to bed but then,” Doyoung gulped, remembering the night before, “this giant wolf came out of the trees.” He was aware of the incredulous stares from his friends.

“Scratch that, I guess you aren’t Belle, more like Bella.”

“No it actually happened!” Doyoung said insistently. “It came towards me and I freaked out and ran inside, but then I noticed it had this giant cut on its leg, so I grabbed a First Aid Kit and went outside.”

“Doyoung,”

“I know Taeil, it was dangerous. But I wrapped up its leg and then went to go back inside, but it kept biting my shirt so I couldn’t get away and I ended up sleeping outside and then—and then—and then I woke up in the grass,” Doyoung trailed off, “and there was no wolf.” He looked down, now well aware how crazy he sounded.

Taeyong frowned in the silence, “Doie, I don’t know what to tell you. But it must have been a dream.”

“But-”

“Yeah,” Taeil agreed, “I think you were just really tired and hallucinated or something.” He smiled softly, “don’t worry, you had a long day.”

“I-I don’t know,” Doyoung said quietly, “I guess you’re right.”

Taeil sympathetically patted Doyoung’s shoulder, “you should get some sleep. I think my mom made some of her famous coconut macaroons for the restaurant tomorrow, but there’s some in the kitchen. Want me to snag a few before you go?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Doyoung said, looking down at his hands. Taeil nodded and shuffled out of the room.

“Don’t worry about it Doie.” Taeyong said, “it’s probably nothing. Just forget about it, I swear, you aren’t going crazy.”

Doyoung looked up at Taeyong, cracking a weak smile that managed to soothe Taeyong’s concerned face. “Thanks. Taeil’s right, I probably just needed to go to bed.”

He climbed down the stairs slowly, wandering aimlessly through the Moon’s dimly lit home before he walked in a large kitchen. Taeil was standing behind a marble island, staring out the window into the dark woods, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Doyoung coughed and Taeil immediately straightened up, pushing a ziploc bag filled with cookies across the countertop towards him. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Doyoung smiled, grabbing the bag. “This is honestly what I needed.”

Taeil smiled back, “good.” He glanced at the clock,  _ 11:16 PM.  _ “It’s getting late. I think Taeyong’s staying over so we can look over more recipes, are you gonna be good driving home?”

“Yeah, I should be.” Doyoung said, waving his keys, “let’s hope I don’t hallucinate another wolf.”

Taeil chuckled, “yes, let’s.”

“Night, see you later.” Doyoung said on his way out.

“Goodnight Doyoung. Stay safe.”

 

Doyoung stumbled back into his own home, wordlessly waving at Jeno who was laughing with Renjun and Jisung as they struggled to make some disgusting concoction in the kitchen. He flicked on the lights to his room, sitting down heavily on his bed.

Doyoung stared out his window into the dark trees, eyes frantically searching for any sight of a large animal with brown fur. He sighed, leaning back on his pillows.

He knew he didn’t hallucinate.

He turned off the lights, engulfed in darkness.

Doyoung sighed, closing his eyes, holding onto the memory of coarse fur and amber eyes.


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung goes to the beach after dreaming of amber eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new update or lissa spills her insecurities about living in a small town for almost 4k?? u decide

Doyoung was running, panting heavily. He could barely see, squinting through the darkness as he narrowly avoided jagged branches and sharp tree trunks. The leaves and twigs on the ground scraped his feet and filled his ears with a loud crunching as his heart raced. Doyoung didn’t know what he was running from, but he could practically feel a warm breath hitting the back of his heels as he struggled to stay ahead.

Suddenly, an ominous howl rang through the trees, chilling Doyoung to the bone. He looked wildly around him, but he could only make out the dark shapes of the surrounding woods. “Fuck!” Doyoung’s shin hit against a branch, sending him tumbling to the ground. Like a girl in a horror movie, he jerked around and tried to scramble up, eyes widening when he saw a giant black mass barrelling towards him.

Just as the monster was on top of him, Doyoung jerked awake, his hands scrambling against his bedsheets as his heart struggled to slow down. He could practically hear his blood rushing in his ears and his fingers frantically threaded into his blankets. Doyoung let out a giant sigh and he sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily and glancing at his bedside clock.  _ 4:37 AM.  _ When he squeezed his eyes shut, he could still see the last glimpse of his dream. Amber eyes stared down at him and Doyoung felt a lurch of fear before he opened them again, safe in the familiar confines of his room.

The summer air was hot around him, and from the way Doyoung was sweating, he could already tell that there was no way that he’d be able to fall asleep again. The house was silent, only the soft sounds of his family sleeping as Doyoung grabbed his car keys and crept down the stairs.

He wasn’t sure where he was going to go, he figured that he’d just aimlessly drive around until he felt exhausted enough to go back home, but he wasn’t surprised when he pulled up to a familiar sand covered parking lot.

He could barely make out the faded sign that read  _ Beach 127 _ but the sand under his feet and the salty wind in his hair made him feel at ease. The usually busy beach is deserted, and Doyoung walks towards the ocean, letting his feet sink into wet sand, the cold shock helping him feel grounded. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, or even why he was there, but the sound of waves crashing against the shore and the feeling that the whole world was asleep except for him was calming. Doyoung sat down in the sand, clutching his knees to his chest, staring out into the waves.

He was confused. His life had been so definite, so easy. Graduate high school, get a shitty summer job, go to college, find someone, move into a house a few minutes away, have a family, grow old together. And all the while keep the same network of friends and family. No more, no less. But all of a sudden he was conflicted, confused. It seemed like everything around him was slightly off, starting with that wolf. Doyoung wasn’t sure what to think, so he didn’t. Just sat and watched the ocean.

The sky was beginning to turn pink when Doyoung heard footsteps slapping against the shore behind him. It was common for joggers to go out at dawn, and Doyoung figured he should probably head home soon before his parents woke up. He started to stand up, brushing sand off of his pajama shorts when the footsteps paused. “What are you doing here so early, Doyoung?” The voice surprised him, and he flopped back down on the damp ground.

Doyoung turned sluggishly, and his fears were confirmed when he was faced with Jung Jaehyun, the other pulling an earbud out and cocking his head in confusion. Jaehyun was only wearing a pair of snug basketball shorts, and Doyoung, in his exhausted state, greedily eyed up the muscles and washboard abs in front of him. “What?”

“What are you doing down here?” Jaehyun repeated. Sweat is dripping off of his brow and Jaehyun quickly runs a hand through the hair in front of his eyes, slicking it back. Doyoung blinked before shaking his head.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh?” Jaehyun asked. He looked around tentatively, “why is that?”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow, Jaehyun had never really acknowledged his presence up until a few days ago. “Bad dream.”

“Yeah I get that.” Jaehyun pulled out his other earbud and sat down on the sand next to Doyoung, panting lightly. Doyoung looked at him in surprise and leaned slightly away from him, but Jaehyun didn’t seem to notice as he leaned back, and Doyoung kept his eyes forward, trying to ignore the way his heart beat a little faster at the way Jaehyun seemed to effortlessly transform into a model under the soft glow of the sunrise. “Do you come here often?”

Doyoung jerked back, looking at the other incredulously. “Did you just-”

Jaehyun immediately turned red, sputtering, “no, oh my god I didn’t realize how that would sound! I just—I wanted to know what you were doing on the beach so early. I usually don’t see you and your friends until later in the afternoon.”

Doyoung eyed the other suspiciously, “well why are you here?”

“Our house is right on the beach,” Jaehyun points his thumb behind him. “I usually go on my morning runs out here.”

“I don’t really know why I’m here,” Doyoung aimlessly let a handful of sand fall through his fingers, “I just drove and ended up at 127.”

“It’s nice out here,” Jaehyun said. “I could be at the beach forever.”

Doyoung frowned, “you’d be finding sand in your shoes for years. You’d be eternally sunburnt.”

“I don’t really get sunburnt.” Jaehyun laughed, and held out his arm, “look at how tan I am.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “We live near a beach, we’re all tan.”

Jaehyun pouted. “Maybe I just wanted to show off my arm.”

Doyoung looked up and his eyes scanned over Jaehyun’s dimples. “Are you accidentally flirting with me again?”

“Not this time,” Jaehyun said casually, “I meant to.” Doyoung let out an embarrassing peep and ducked his head down, looking away from Jaehyun’s wide grin and burying his head into his arms.

“Shut up,” Doyoung mumbled, concentrating on the way the waves lapped at his toes instead of his red cheeks.

Jaehyun laughed. “Sorry, that might have been a little too forward.”

Doyoung hid his soft smile. “It’s fine.”

Jaehyun hummed. “Hey, I’m kind of hungry. I’m a growing boy.” Doyoung ignored the subtle innuendo and looked at Jaehyun curiously. “Wanna grab breakfast?”

Doyoung sputtered incredulously, “you want to get food? With me?”

Jaehyun smiled, stood up, and brushed the sand off of his shorts. “Yeah, is that so hard to believe?” He extended his hand.

Doyoung eyed it suspiciously before he slipped his palm into Jaehyun’s, allowing the other to help him up. Jaehyun yanked his arm forward, and Doyoung yelped as he was suddenly on his feet and he nearly stumbled forward, if it wasn’t for Jaehyun’s other arm shooting out and gripping his waist.

“Woah!” Jaehyun said as Doyoung slammed his palms against Jaehyun’s shoulders. “Careful,” he breathed out, looking down.

“Sorry.” Doyoung said as he met Jaehyun’s eyes. The breeze fluttered through Jaehyun’s hair as the other looked at Doyoung with hooded eyes. They seemed to graze down Doyoung’s face to his lips, his jaw, neck and collarbones and Doyoung’s flush followed his gaze when Jaehyun’s pink tongue traced his upper lips.

“It’s okay.” Jaehyun mumbled, almost leaning closer. He inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering shut. Doyoung was caught in a trance until suddenly a seagull swooped overhead, its ugly screech destroying the tense atmosphere around them. They jumped apart, refusing to meet each other’s eyes.

“So,” Doyoung said awkwardly, “food?”

Jaehyun looked up, his cheeks pink. “Oh! Yeah, yeah of course. Let’s go to Huang’s.”

 

They stopped at Jaehyun’s car on the way, a surprisingly modest Honda Civic, so Jaehyun could slip on a shirt. Doyoung silently mourned the loss as Jaehyun’s hard abdomen was covered by a teal muscle tank. Huang’s was a tiny family-run diner, about a block from the shore. It was owned by Renjun’s family, and employed many of the bored teenagers who still went to SM High. The path towards the tiny restaurant was familiar, but the person Doyoung was walking besides was not. 

The silence was mildly awkward, even as Jaehyun, ever the gentleman, pulled open the door for Doyoung. “Thanks,” Doyoung mumbled.

“No problem.” Jaehyun smiled smoothly. They sat in a corner booth, the edges of the vinyl seats frayed and the laminate table top was stained with coffee rings. There were a few people in the diner, and quiet conversation filled the air along with the sound of bacon sizzling. Pink light filtered in from the windows as the sun rose and Doyoung felt more at ease breathing in the scent of maple syrup and coffee. “So—”

“What do you want to get?” Doyoung picked up a faded menu balanced between salt shakers right as Jaehyun started speaking. “Oh sorry—”

“Sorry! I interrupted—”

“No really it’s fine—”

“I mean—”

“Can I get you two anything to drink?” The flustered duo looked up to see a short boy with almost elvish features standing in front of them, staring at them and exuding exhaustion in the early morning light.

“Morning Renjun,” Doyoung said tentatively, eyeing the air between him and Jaehyun. Renjun raised an eyebrow at the unexpected duo but said nothing.

“Do you want coffee?” Renjun asked.

“That’d be great, thanks.” Jaehyun butted in and smiled charmingly. Doyoung felt the sudden urge to punch him in the face. And then maybe kiss it better. And then punch it again. “Also I’ll just take my usual, make that two.”

Doyoung raised his eyebrows. “You’re ordering for me?”

“Just trust me.” Jaehyun said, “it’ll be the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”

Renjun nodded tiredly before turning around. “Kunhang! I need another pot of regular!”

Another equally tired boy emerged from the back of the counter and handed Renjun a large coffee pot and slid two mugs towards them. Renjun whispered something to him in a language he didn’t understand, probably Chinese considering that he recognized it from the times Ten tried to frantically study for a test at work, and Kunhang glanced over at him and Jaehyun, eyes widening. He ushered over another worker with fairy-like features and whispered in the same language, subtly pointing at them. Doyoung sank a tinsy bit in his seat. Secrets don’t really exist in San Marco, not when everyone knew everyone.

“Are you excited?” Jaehyun asked suddenly.

Doyoung blinked. “Excited for what?”

“Graduating, summer, going to college.” Jaehyun waved his hand. “The whole ‘growing up’ thing.”

Doyoung scowled. “Is it bad if I say I’m not?”

“Oh? Why?”

Doyoung sighed. “It’s all so, I don’t know, boring? It’s like everything since I was born in this goddamn place has been written out for me, like I had no choice.”

Jaehyun’s mouth quirked down. “You technically do, you can move.”

Doyoung shook his head. “I don’t think I could do that. My family has lived here for ages, it’s all I’ve ever known. Everyone I know and love is within a ten-mile-radius, it’s hard to leave all that behind.”

“But it can be suffocating.” Jaehyun said. “I get it though, being surrounded by strangers isn’t exactly ideal.”

“Yeah.”

“Plus,” Jaehyun suddenly smirked, “then I wouldn’t be able to see you.”

Doyoung’s brows furrowed, his hand raising to hide his pink cheeks. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly so interested in me.”

Jaehyun cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t really talk to me at all in highschool or knew who I was and now all of a sudden you’re talking to me and—and—” Doyoung gesture wildly.

“And what?” Jaehyun asked, amused.

“Being flirty! And staring at me! Like all the time!” Doyoung cried. “Honestly, it’s kinda creepy. Like Twilight.”

Jaehyun looked down, laughing like he knew something Doyoung didn’t. “Wouldn’t that be funny?”

“It’s just a little out of the blue.”

“Well, what if I told you that I did actually know who you were, I was just too shy to talk to you like how I wanted to.”

Doyoung looked at him incredulously. “You? Shy?”

“Yes,” Jaehyun said, proudly showing off his dimples, “I was very shy.”

“And now?”

“Well now I’ve realized that life’s too short to not go after what I want.” Jaehyun said, his eyes darkening slightly to a dark amber color that had Doyoung gulping.

“Here’s your food,” Renjun said, interrupting the tense moment. “Enjoy.”

 

“I’ll pay,” Jaehyun pushed aside his empty plate, pulling out his wallet.

“No, it’s fine.” Doyoung said. “I got it.”

Jaehyun looked up at Doyoung from where he was rifling through his wallet, “no, it’s on me.”

Doyoung scowled, “no, I’ll pay for mine at least.” He pointed his fork at Jaehyun, cursing when it slipped through his fingers and clattered on the floor. “Shit.” Doyoung ducked under the table, grabbing the forgotten silverware. He glanced forward, brows furrowing when he noticed a giant faded scar on Jaehyun’s leg. He placed the fork back on the tabletop, rolling his eyes at the sight of a few bills placed near their plates. “Did you get hurt at some point?”

“What do you mean?” Jaehyun asked hesitantly.

“There’s a scar on your leg, and i don’t think I’ve seen it there before. I mean—not that I was looking but—”

Jaehyun’s face paled and he avoided Doyoung’s gaze. “Uh, yeah. Surfing accident.” He said weakly. The door rang in the background, signifying people walking into the small diner. Doyoung glanced back to see the tall frames of Johnny and Yukhei walking in, quietly talking over something. “Shit,” Jaehyun said, abruptly standing up. “I gotta go.”

“What?”

“It was nice talking to you Doyoung, let’s do this again, okay?” Jaehyun smiled before quickly walking over to the other two. Doyoung watched him incredulously.

Jaehyun whispered something to the two of them, Johnny’s eyes immediately flicking up and looking at Doyoung. There was an unreadable emotion in his eyes but the three suddenly seemed to be in a tense conversation before Johnny looked back at Jaehyun, his shoulders sagging slightly. As soon as Johnny uttered his next sentence, Jaehyun stormed away, exiting the diner and walking back to Beach 127 in a flurry of frustration. Johnny made eye contact with Doyoung again, and Doyoung gulped at the blank expression before he was dragged away by Yukhei to a nearby table.

Doyoung checked his phone.  _ 6:04 AM.  _ He should probably go home before his parents worry about him.

 

Doyoung didn’t have to go to work until 3 in the afternoon, so he spent his afternoon with Taeyong, under the shade of his lifeguard tower. It was where he spent most of his time when he wasn’t working, and besides, Jeno worked at the little towel shack with Jisung on the beach, so Doyoung would have had to drive his little brother down to the ocean anyways that day. “You’re quiet today.” Taeyong commented, his eyes gazing the people splashing in the water as he leaned forward, chin balancing against his rescue board.

“I’m tired, I went down to the beach this morning at like 4 or something.”

Taeyong looked over at Doyoung, “what? Why?”

Doyoung shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Taeyong rolled his eyes. “And your first instinct was to go to the beach? You’re literally always here. At this point, half of your body must be made of sand. You’re just as bad as the Big Three, they’re here all the time too, stupid hooligans.” He muttered.

Doyoung flushed, remembering this morning. “I don’t think they’re all that bad.”

Taeyong looked at Doyoung in disbelief. “They’re asses.”

“Not all of them.”

“I’m sorry, do you know them?” Taeyong scoffed.

Doyoung frowned, “I know Jaehyun.”

Taeyong’s head whipped towards him. “How?”

Doyoung paused. “We’ve talked.”

Taeyong’s brows furrowed, “why would you do that?”

Doyoung didn’t answer, instead allowing the silence to serve as his response. Taeyong turned back towards the waves, eyes attentive again. Doyoung followed suit, lazily people-watching to pass the time. “Speak of the devil,” he muttered.

Jaehyun ran down the beach, his tanned body on full display under the blazing sun as he dashed towards the waves, surfboard in hand. He was followed by Johnny and Yukhei, a drastic change from the mood that morning as they laughed together, hitting the waves. “Ugh,” Taeyong groaned. Doyoung could see Jaehyun’s wide smile and he had to stop himself from mirroring his expression.

“Yuta’s not with them, he usually is,” Doyoung said lightly, “I wonder where he is?”

Taeyong shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t really care.”

Doyoung hummed, watching the way the boys whooped as they showed off little tricks, skimming across the waves. Jaehyun looked up, catching Doyoung’s eye. This time however, he waved, grinning widely.

Doyoung smiled, waving back.

“Doyoung,” Taeyong said coldly, causing Doyoung to look at his surprisingly serious friend. “I mean it. Don’t talk to Jung Jaehyun.” Taeyong scowled. “He’s bad news.”

Doyoung dropped his hand hesitantly, ripping his eyes away from the ocean and Jaehyun’s devastating smile. “Okay.”

 

Work was tedious, boring, and utterly monotonous. Doyoung and Ten passed the time by coming up with gross combinations of froyo, daring the other to down it all at once, causing multiple brain freezes. Doyoung returns home with a headache, but he still pulls his borrowed book from Taeil out of his drawer and settles down on the porch for a good read as the sun sinks below the horizon.

_ “What are werewolves like?” I asked Axton, looking up into his clear blue orbs, like limpid pools of starlight. _

_ “We’re strong,” Axton growled, “and we heal incredibly fast. We can smell our mates for miles, we’re drawn to their scent.” He buried his face in my neck, pushing aside my wavy hair. I moaned at the feeling. “I’m drawn to yours.” _

_ “Ah,” I groaned. _

_ “But one thing, I can’t be with you.” Suddenly, Axton pushed me away, panting heavily, pain in his clear orbs. _

_ “Why?” I cried out, feeling my heart ripped from my chest. _

_ “It’s too dangerous, Kyla Rae.” Axton brooded. “There are so many creatures out there that could hurt you.” _

_ “Like what? I can handle it, I just want to be with you!” I said, tears welling up in my brown eyes, gold specks catching the light in my irises. _

_ “Vampires, witches, the fae, other wolves. They’re especially dangerous, they’re called rogues. If they find out we’re together, they’re try to kill you.” Axton said. _

_ I grabbed his strong bicep, sparks shooting between our touch. “I don’t care, as long as I’m with you.” _

_ Axton ripped my hand off of him. “I love you, but I can’t.” He said, and transformed into his large grey wolf form, staring at me one last time with his blue orbs under the moonlight before he disappeared into the woods. _

_ “No!” I cried out. “No! Axton, I love you!” _

Doyoung scoffed, closing the book. “It’s so stupid.” He said, tossing it aside, having had enough for the night. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the porch chair and listening to the sound of crickets and wind blowing through the trees.

The soft sounds were interrupted however, when rustling caught Doyoung’s ears and he cracked his eyes open. “Hello?” He said cautiously.

His call was answered by a large form emerging from the woods, amber eyes making eye contact with Doyoung. Doyoung gasped, his heart feeling a sudden spike of fear before it dies down as the wolf seems to grin at Doyoung, bounding towards him. “Ah!” Doyoung yelped as the wolf jumped up onto the porch and settled into Doyoung’s lap, the giant form almost slipping off as he struggled to wrap his arms around the furry beast. “Oh my god, you’ve got to stop lying on me.”

The wolf whined in response, burying its snout in Doyoung’s arms. “You’re back,” Doyoung said incredulously, his fingers threading through the thick hair between its ears. “I thought that maybe I imagined you.” The wolf looked up, almost cocking its head.

“I know, crazy right? But all my friends said that I probably just dreamt of you instead.” Doyoung swore the wolf’s amber eyes rolled back and it snorted. “Sorry, sorry!” Doyoung said and squished the wolf’s cheeks.

“You’re very real, I’m just glad I’m not going insane.” Doyoung sighed. The wolf let out a soft whine, laying its head against Doyoung’s shoulder. “Is your leg okay?” Doyoung asked, looking down, “all the bandages are gone!”

The wolf looked at Doyoung guiltily. “It’s okay, they probably fell off when you were doing, uh, wolf things. Does it feel better?” The wolf jumped off of Doyoung’s lap, proudly walking in a circle around the porch and showing Doyoung that yes, it was feeling much better, thank you very much. “Wow you heal fast.” Doyoung smiled. The wolf grinned back at him. It cocked its head, glancing down and yelping softly. Doyoung furrowed his brow curiously as the wolf grabbed Doyoung’s discarded book, teeth gripping the binding and dropping it into Doyoung’s lap. “Hey! Be careful! This book isn’t mine.” Doyoung said, examining it until he was satisfied by the lack of damage. The wolf nudged the book further into his lap. “What? You want to know about this?”

The wolf nodded. “It’s called  _ Nightshade,  _ it’s pretty dumb. But it’s all about werewolves.” The wolf’s eyes shone with amusement. “I know right, how ridiculous! As if werewolves are real.” He cracked open the pages to where he was. “Wouldn’t it be insane if you were a werewolf?” He joked, not noticing the way the wolf froze. “Do you want me to read it outloud?”

The wolf jerked its head up, climbing back into Doyoung’s lap, forcing the other to accomodate for its large body. Doyoung wrapped his arms around the wolf’s body, holding the book out. “We’ll start from the beginning, okay?” The wolf nodded.  _ “My name is Kyla Rae. I’m 17 years old, and I’ve just moved into a new town.” _

 

He read for what felt like hours before the wolf’s eyes fluttered shut and its breath evened out. Doyoung shut the book silently, placing it on a nearby metal table. He slowly ran his fingers through the wolf’s coarse fur. It cracked open its eyes, amber meeting Doyoung’s own as Doyoung smiled apologetically. “Sorry for waking you up,” he whispered. The wolf made a soft sound before closing its eyes again. “I should give you a name,” Doyoung whispered. “What about Jeffrey?”

The wolf growled faintly. “Okay, not that one.” Doyoung glanced down, eyes flitting over a patch of lighter blond fur on the wolf’s back, forming a familiar heart shape. “Peach?” The wolf said nothing, but his tail did wag slightly. “Okay, Peach it is.” Doyoung hummed. He slowly stroked the wolf’s fur, letting the soft feeling lull him to sleep. The stars and moon in the sky faded to a blur as Doyoung’s eyes slid shut. “Goodnight Peach.”


	5. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something weird is going on with Doyoung's friends.

Doyoung kept having nightmares. He always woke up in a mess of sweat and tangled blankets, panting as he blindly reached for his keys and didn’t stop until he felt sand under his toes and wind in his hair. He spent his mornings staring out at the waves, fruitlessly trying to count the stars until the sky faded into pink and he heard footsteps approaching.

“I can’t sleep anymore Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun sighed, his eyes flitting over Doyoung’s dark undereye circles. “Why not?”

“It’s this nightmare.” Doyoung’s eyes felt heavy. “It’s stupid, it’s about wolves.”

Jaehyun’s shoulders tensed from where he sat in the sand next to Doyoung. “Ah.”

Doyoung paused. “Do you ever feel like you’re going insane?”

Jaehyun laughed. “Sometimes.”

“I think I am. I feel like things keep happening and I’m the only one who notices.”

Jaehyun stared at Doyoung, eyes portraying an unreadable emotion. “You’re not crazy.”

Doyoung snorted. “If you knew, then you would say I am.”

“I don’t think so, if anything, I’d say that everything is going just _peachy_ right now.” Jaehyun smiled slyly.

Doyoung furrowed his brows. “Okay?”

“C’mon,” Jaehyun laughed, standing up, “let’s go to Huang’s. There’s some waffles with our name on it.”

 

Doyoung wondered if this was his new routine. Having nightmares, waking up before the sun, heading to the beach, talking to Jaehyun, going to Huang’s. He became used to the scent of old coffee and frying bacon as the sun rose over the ocean. Renjun memorized their order, coming out with their food before they would even sit down. It was good, even calming, and it distracted Doyoung from the way his heart pounded when Jaehyun looked at him.

“You’re quiet today,” Doyoung asked one morning, his mouth stuffed with waffle.

“Huh?” Jaehyun looked up from where he was staring into the distance, clearly distracted. Usually Doyoung was the one who was tired and looked worse-for-wear, but today Jaehyun was baring deep under eye circles and messy hair. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Doyoung shrugged, “what’s up?”

Jaehyun looked cautiously around him, as if making sure no one was listening. “Nothing, really.”

“You can tell me.” Doyoung said, “it’s not like I’m going to tell anyone.”

Jaehyun hesitated before his shoulders dropped. “It’s Yuta.”

Doyoung cocked his head. “Yuta? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said quietly. “No one has.”

Doyoung’s eyes widened. “He’s gone?”

Jaehyun winced. “I don’t know. But we’re all worried.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“He’s—he’s somewhere closeby. But I don’t know, I just have this feeling that he’s in some trouble.” Jaehyun trailed off, fidgeting awkwardly in his seat. Doyoung’s pointed gaze flitted over the way Jaehyun’s eyes were puffy and drooping with sleep, emanating exhaustion.

“He’ll show up.” Doyoung said encouragingly.

“Yeah.” Jaehyun said, still distracted by his thoughts. “I hope so.” The doorbell rang and Doyoung was already prepared when Jaehyun looked up at Johnny and Yukhei entering the diner, saying “I gotta go,” quickly before leaving a crumpled mess of bills on the table. “See you tomorrow.”

Doyoung glanced over as Jaehyun joined the other two, seeing the way the two tall boys seemed oddly muted that day, baring the same weary expression as Jaehyun as they whispered quietly.

“More coffee?” Renjun asked, looking bored.

“Sure.” Doyoung said. He watched the dark brown liquid fill his mug. “Hey, does Yuta usually come in here?” He asked quietly.

Renjun paused before he laughed awkwardly. “Usually. But he hasn’t lately.”

“Huh.”

“I have no clue why,” Renjun squeaked before scurrying away. Doyoung eyed the waiter as he frantically whispered something to his two coworkers in the same foreign language they usually used.

Odd.

 

Once he learned about Yuta’s weird disappearance, he can’t help but sense the absence of the Japanese man everywhere he looked. The seat in the back of Johnny’s car was replaced with Yukhei, his voice too loud to blend in with the others as Yuta’s had. He also noticed the effects it was having on some of the residents of Beach 127.

At work, Ten had the trademark signs of exhaustion and seemed on edge, almost snapping at a customer who asked them for another spoon. Kun came in to pick him up at the end of the day and Doyoung could have sworn they were back in finals week with the amount of tension the other seemed to exude.

In fact, the more he observed, the more he realized that a lot of people were worried, their pent-up anxiety making the air around Doyoung feel tight. He was wordlessly wiping down tables at the end of the night when Yukhei walked in, surrounded by a group of people, all looking equally tired and somber. “Hello, welcome to Frozone.” Doyoung said quietly and the group barely even registered him as they grabbed copious amounts of frozen yogurt, looking way too depressed to be in a froyo shop.

After he rang them up, he went back to mindlessly cleaning, but this time he concentrated on overhearing their conversation, relying on most customers knack of completely ignoring workers in order to eavesdrop on them.

“Jaemin, I really don’t know where he is,” one of the kids, one Doyoung recognized as Jeno’s classmate Mark, said. “Johnny said not to worry.”

“I know,” Jaemin whined, “but I can’t smell him anywhere.” Doyoung froze at the odd remark before he shook it off, wiping harder at a spot of chocolate sauce that refused to come off.

“You’re just a pup.” A tanned boy teased.

“You are too Donghyuck.”

“Kun said that he could still sense him in town, they just can’t figure out where.” Yukhei’s deep voice filled the store.

“Why can’t they? Maybe Kun’s nose is just too old.” One of the boys giggled, a slight german accent coming through. Doyoung figured it must have been Yangyang, one of the exchange students from last year.

Another boy high fived him, his laugh coming out like a squeal that hurt Doyoung’s ears. “They do say that senses deteriorate when you become elderly.”

“I heard that he was last seen going near _their_ house.” Mark whispered.

“Yuta would never be that stupid.” Donghyuck replied, “he knew it would be suicide, especially now.”

“I overheard him and Johnny arguing. He said that he wanted revenge.” Jaemin said, “I mean, I would too. Just look at what they did to Jaehyun.”

Doyoung paused, debating whether he should move on from this now clean table or continue listening to the conversation. He glanced up, almost yelping when he made eye contact with Yukhei. He should probably move on. He gulped, walking back behind the counter.

“We should probably go now, I bet everyone's worried for us.” Yukhei said, louder than he needed to be.

“Have a good night,” Doyoung said weakly. The kids responded instinctively and exited the store. Yukhei stood in the middle for another second, seeming like he was about to say something before Mark ripped the door back open.

“C’mon Xuxi! Let’s go!” Yukhei whirled around before hurrying to follow Mark out of the store, glancing back at Doyoung as he was dragged away by the other.

Doyoung watched them all hop into a large SUV that he recognized from school fundraisers as belonging to Mark’s mom, mind reeling over what he just heard.

_Why were they talking about scenting people?_

_What was Yukhei going to tell him?_

_What revenge?_

_What happened to Jaehyun?_

_Why oh why were things getting so complicated all of a sudden?_

 

Doyoung didn’t know what to do. It seemed like that had been his constant mood the entire summer. In his fit of confusion, he did the one thing that seemed like a certainty. He called his friends.

**[TAEIL]: i’m here**

“Taeil’s here,” Taeyong said from where he was hanging upside down off the edge of Doyoung’s bed.

“I know, I got the text.” Doyoung said, opening his bedroom door and running downstairs. Jeno stuck his head out of his room, the sounds of his videogames spilling out of the opening.

“Are your friends coming over?” Jeno asked.

“Yeah. Taeyong’s already here and Taeil just got here.” Doyoung said.

“Oh,” Jeno looked over to Doyoung’s room and waved at Taeyong, who grinned back. “Can I have Jisung over?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Doyoung called, now at the bottom of the stairs.

“Thanks!” Jeno yelled back before ducking back into his room.

Doyoung ripped open the door, smiling at Taeil who looked up from his phone. “Hey,” Taeil said.

Doyoung stepped to the side. “You know, you can just come in. I gave you and Taeyong keys.”

“Yeah,” Taeil said, “I just feel like it’s impolite. My family raised me to never come into a house without being given permission.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Here, you’re formally invited into my humble abode.”

Taeil grinned, “thanks.” He said before crossing over the threshold, pulling off his shoes. “How was work?”

“Alright,” Doyoung shrugged, stopping briefly in the kitchen to grab a water bottle. “You want one?”

“No thanks. I have my own drink.” Taeil said, brandishing a glass bottle.

“Oh yeah,” Doyoung rolled his eyes, “I forgot you’re weirdly into health drinks. Have fun with your beet and cherry kombucha, I guess.”

“Thanks, I will.” Taeil said and took a sip from the berry colored bottle as they climbed up the stairs.

Doyoung pushed open the door right as Taeyong cheered. “Yes! You did it!” He walked into his room to see Taeyong high fiving Jeno.

“Did what?” Doyoung asked, handing a water bottle to Taeyong.

“I taught him a magic trick.” Taeyong grinned.

“Oh, show us.” Taeil said, sitting down on the bed next to Taeyong.

Jeno smiled shyly under all the attention but he still opened up his hands, showing a deck of cards. “Watch carefully,” he said and he flipped the deck over, cupping his hands over the deck. Jeno turned his hands, spinning his fingers and with a snap he opened them again and Doyoung’s eyes widened when he saw a delicate flower in its place.

“Woah Jeno that’s so cool!” Doyoung grinned at his brother. “How did you do it?”

“It’s slight of ha-”

Taeyong interrupted Jeno. “A magician never reveals his secrets.” He grinned wildly.

“More like a witch.” Doyoung said, rolling his eyes. “Hey! Fuck!”

Taeyong laughed, holding the pillow he used to smack Doyoung in the face.

“Jisung’s coming over later, can I show him how to do this trick?” Jeno asked, eyes wide and innocent as he looked at Taeyong.

Doyoung grumbled about how evil the other was as his friend ruffled his little brother’s hair. “Sure, of course. Tell Sungie to come over and say hi to me too.”

“I will!” Jeno said, his eyes squinting as he smiled before he jumped off the bed and walked back over to his room.

“I think you’re a bad influence on him. Soon he’ll be just as mean to me as you are.” Doyoung scowled.

“Not my fault we spend more time together. Jisung and him always come and talk to me during their breaks. I’m like their big brother.”

“I’m his actual big brother,” Doyoung muttered.

“Fine,” Taeyong said, “I’m their big brother on Beach 127.”

Taeil stood up, walking over to Doyoung’s desk and picking up his borrowed book. “How is it?”

Doyoung frowned, “I still think it’s lame.”

Taeil smiled slightly, “I thought it was romantic.”

“Oh you think everything is romantic.” Taeyong said. “LIterally anything.”

Taeil glared at Taeyong. “I’m just an optimist.”

Taeyong shrugged, looking over at Doyoung. “So what do you want to do?”

“Watch a movie?” Doyoung asked.

Taeyong sat up, grinning. “Which one? Let’s not watch True Blood again, Taeil’s forced us to watch the last three seasons.”

“What?” Taeil asked. “I think it’s a funny show.”

“It’s a fantasy drama about vampires, I really don’t see how it’s so hilarious.” Doyoung said.

Taeil shrugged, “it’s just so unrealistic, it’s kind of funny to watch the actors try to make everything so dramatic.”

“How about this?” Taeyong asked, holding up the first Harry Potter movie. “It’s been a hot second since we’ve watched these.”

“Fine,” Doyoung grabbed the movie, “let’s do a marathon.”

 

They were halfway through Harry’s third year when Doyoung brought up the topic that had been in the back of his mind the entire time. “Have any of you seen Nakamoto Yuta for the past few days?”

Taeyong ripped his eyes away from the screen and looked at Doyoung oddly. “No, why would we?”

“I dunno,” Doyoung mumbled, “apparently he’s gone missing.”

No one spoke for a few seconds, the sound of Harry running from Professor Lupin’s wolf form in the background. “I wouldn’t worry about it, he probably just skipped town.” Taeil said.

“Yeah,” Taeyong agreed, looking back at the TV.

Doyoung nodded, feeling just as unsatisfied as he had been since that morning.

Another entire year of Harry’s lifespan passed before their eyes before Taeil spoke up. “Jungwoo is in the hospital.”

Taeyong winced, “I heard.”

“Oh my god is he okay?”

“He was in an accident,” Taeil sighed, “but hopefully he’ll be okay. My parents are going to make sure of it.”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow. “Your parents really care about their employees.”

“Woo’s a family friend,” Taeil shrugged.

“What happened to him?” Doyoung asked.

“Someone ran into him,” Taeil scowled, “but don’t worry, he handled it.”

“When was this?”

“Just a few days ago.”

“Hey guys, shut up!” Taeyong said, eyes enraptured by the screen, “he’s about to meet Voldemort.”

They shut off the TV after six movies. Doyoung could barely stay awake and Taeyong was already knocked out on the floor, his mouth open and drooling slightly. Taeil tucked a blanket around him before stealing one of Doyoung’s pillows and curling up on the ground next to him.

“Goodnight,” he whispered. Doyoung yawned, climbing into his bed. He turned off the lights, glancing outside.

Doyoung quickly looked down, and relaxed when he saw Taeil and Taeyong peacefully beneath him, their eyes closed. He scanned the forest again, his heart thumping when he thought he caught a glimpse of movement and amber eyes through the glass. “Goodnight.” Doyoung said quietly. He smiled to himself before lying down and closing his eyes.

 

For the first time in days, Doyoung dreamt of nothing. He woke up to an empty bedroom, his friend’s laughter flitting upstairs along with the smell of cooking eggs and coffee, almost like the scent of Huang’s at 5 AM. He drifted downstairs sleepily, smiling when he saw Taeil and Taeyong laughing with Jeno, and Jisung as they attempted to make breakfast. Doyoung walked into the kitchen, yawning. “Morning guys.”

They all turned to look at him and Doyoung heard something behind him drop with a thump. “Oh shit,” Jeno cursed, quickly running behind Doyoung to pick up a mug of coffee that had fallen off of the counter.

Taeyong stood near the stove, scrambling eggs and he waved the spatula at Doyoung. “Morning, Doie!” The other smiled.

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Jisung was trying to make pancakes so we stopped him before he lit the house on fire.” Taeil said, cutting up some fruit. The tall boy pouted from where he sat, designated to the corner of the counter where he was peeling bananas for Taeil’s smoothie.

Doyoung pulled out a plate, holding it out so Taeyong could stack piles of eggs on it before he moved on to some bacon. Doyoung set the plate down on the table before sitting down at the counter next to Jeno.

“I feel like I haven’t eaten breakfast with you in forever,” Jeno said, “where do you go every morning?”

Doyoung hesitated, watching the way Taeyong and Taeil paused slightly. “I just like spending some time alone.” He said quietly.

“Well I’m glad you’re back today. We never spend time together anymore!” Jeno whined.

“Yeah,” Doyoung smiled wryly, “I’ll try to be home more.”

“Good,” Taeyong said, setting down a plate of bacon on the table with a loud clunk. “You should stop spending so much time at the beach, you might catch a cold.” He stared pointedly at Doyoung and for the first time in a long time, Doyoung realized why people thought his friend was so intimidating.

Taeil walked behind Taeyong, tapping his shoulder and Taeyong seemed to snap out of whatever weird mood he was in, smiling and going back to making more food.

Doyoung looked down, silently eating along with the rest of them until Taeyong and Taeil left.

As the door shut behind them Doyoung frowned. He hadn’t told anyone about going to the beach.

How did Taeyong know?

 

That morning, Doyoung finally finished _Nightshade._

_“Oh baby, I love you!” I cried out, as Axton tore the vampire off of my body._

_“You’re mine.” Axton growled, the light shining off of his six-pack. “My mate.”_

_“I’m yours.” I whimpered, throwing myself into his arms._

_“No one can ever take you away from me.”_

Doyoung gagged at the cheesy lines as he finally turned the last page of the book. He glanced at the clock, _2:23 PM._

For once, he didn’t have work and Doyoung revelled in the feeling of having a day off. That is, until he realized that none of his other friends had the day off and he was resigned to spend it alone.

However, Doyoung was resourceful, and he decided to hop into his car and drive down to Moon’s, with the excuse that he was going to drop off Taeil’s book, but with the intentions of annoying the other while trying to steal macaroons.

There was no valet that day, and Doyoung frowned, remembering how Jungwoo was in the hospital. “I’ll have to send him flowers or something,” He thought while parking his car and walking across the hot asphalt.

The blissfully cool lobby of the high-class restaurant smacked him in the face and he waved at Sicheng, who wordlessly held open the door to the back kitchen for him.

“Thanks!” Doyoung called, walking into the bustling area.

“Grab me some macaroons,” Sicheng said in response, before turning to an elderly couple that had just walked in, the fakest smile in the world on his face.

Doyoung narrowly avoided being smacked in the face by a label and ducked his way through the kitchen before he arrived in front of the closed office door. His hand was on the doorknob, about to turn it when the door was ripped open, and a tall body stormed out of the room.

Doyoung’s jaw dropped as Johnny Seo strode through the kitchen, a grim expression on his face as people scrambled to get out of his way. He left, and the atmosphere of frustration dissipated along with him as the kitchen slowly resumed its to its busy state.

“What the fuck?” Doyoung turned around, stepping into the office.

“Hi dear, did you need something?” Doyoung flushed as he laid eyes on Mrs. Moon, who was smiling gently at him from behind the desk. Taeil sat on the side, his eyes pointed down.

“Oh I uh—came to return Taeil’s book.” Doyoung muttered, handing over his copy to Taeil, who silently took it.

“How kind of you.” Mrs. Moon said, as if an angry young man had not just marched out of her office. “Would you like a macaroon?” She pushed over a plate on her desk, offering a stack of cookies.

“Thank you,” Doyoung said quietly, refusing to make eye contact as he grabbed a cookie. “Um, I’m going to go now.” He said awkwardly, “see you Taeil.”

Taeil looked up slightly, waving but his hand fell when his mother glanced out of the corner of her eyes at him. Doyoung’s blood ran cold as her eyes seemed to turn harsh for a second before she turned back to him again, serene expression on her face. “That’s good dear.”

“Thanks Mrs. Moon.” Doyoung said, frantic to exit. As he was leaving however, he was stopped by her gentle voice.

“Oh, and Doyoung?”

Doyoung turned around. “Yes?” He asked. Mrs. Moon smiled at him, but it seemed somehow less warm than it had before.

“Remember, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Oh,” Doyoung stuttered, “thank you.”

Mrs. Moon’s expression was cold and Doyoung gulped. “Dangerous people live in this town. We don’t want you to get hurt, afterall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh man do you think he should eat those macaroons or nah


	6. VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung realizes that nothing is what it seems to be.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Jaehyun turned and looked at Doyoung, the wind ruffling his hair and causing the strands to fall over his perpetually tired eyes. “Huh?”

“With Yuta,” Doyoung gestured, “he still hasn’t come back.”

Jaehyun paused and then laughed bitterly. “I don’t know what you could do.”

“Well I have to try.” Doyoung mumbled, “it seems like no one else is.”

“What do you mean?” Jaehyun asked, his voice slightly cold.

Doyoung leaned back in the sand, avoiding looking at Jaehyun. “Well, it seems like a lot of people are upset, but I don’t really see anyone doing anything.”

Jaehyun sighed. “Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean we aren’t doing anything. Besides, it could be dangerous—”

Doyoung snorted. “I’ve heard that a lot lately. Besides, where the hell could he even be? What happened to him?”

Jaehyun hesitated, “we have some theories.”

“Like what?” Doyoung asked, looking up at Jaehyun.

“I don’t know if I can tell you.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “Christ, what’s with all the secrets? It can’t be that big of a deal.”

Jaehyun didn’t answer, the sounds of the wave lapping against the beach filled the awkward silence between them.

“If you don’t let me, I’ll just go out on my own.”

Jaehyun’s cheek jerked towards Doyoung. “No you aren’t.”

Doyoung glared at Jaehyun. “Yes I am. Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Jaehyun’s nostrils flared. “I’m your m—” Jaehyun hissed, ripping his eyes away from Doyoung and staring out into the waves.

“All we are to each other is classmates. Who happen to spend some time together.” Doyoung stood up, turning away from Jaehyun. He was about to walk away when a hand shot out, gripping his wrist.

“No,” Jaehyun growled, standing up to follow Doyoung, who tried to jerk out of Jaehyun’s grip. “You’re not.”

Doyoung scowled, “then what exactly am I?” He turned to face Jaehyun, and suddenly they were a lot closer than Doyoung expected. Their chests were inches away from each other as Jaehyun’s grip tightened.

“I—“ Jaehyun faltered, “I can’t explain it, but Doyoung you’re special to me.”

“Bullshit.” Doyoung rolled his eyes. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know you work yourself to the bone. I know you care about your family and friends, I know that you don’t expect anything in return.” Jaehyun said, gaze determined. “I know I’ve always wanted to give you everything in return. I know you like to read more than you like to talk to people sometimes, but I also know you’re a natural leader who takes charge effortlessly. I may have not talked to you for the past years, but god, I know you.” He breathed out, and Doyoung could feel the way his breath fanned against his own.

The sand beneath his feet kept him grounded as his mind raced. The waves seemed deafening in the silence between them as the sky faded from purple to rose. “You’re—” Doyoung paused, “you’re dramatic.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun’s fingers faltered Doyoung’s wrist. “Sorry.”

Doyoung looked at the way Jaehyun refused to meet his eyes and sighed. “Why didn’t you ever speak to me?” Doyoung asked skeptically.

“I—it’s complicated.”

Doyoung’s gaze hardened and he scoffed. “Isn’t everything complicated when it comes to you?” He finally twisted himself out of Jaehyun’s grasp, only now noticing that their chests had been pressed together. Doyoung walked across the sand, the soles of his feet sinking into the soft ground.

“Wait!” Jaehyun called desperately. “I’ll,” he hesitated, “let me help you look for Yuta.”

Doyoung paused, turning around to look at Jaehyun’s pleading expression. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“Yes! I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Okay.”

“What?” Jaehyun looked up, his eyes hopeful. “Okay?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

 

The inside of Jaehyun’s car was a little beat up, with scuff marks on the dashboard and their frayed graduation cord wrapped around the rearview mirror. “Where was he last spotted?”

“At first we thought he was last seen going towards one of our _friend’s_ house,” Jaehyun said lightly, “but then we tracked him going to Moon’s.”

“Tracked?” Doyoung asked as Jaehyun pulled out of the parking lot. “Did you hack into security cameras?” He scoffed.

Jaehyun laughed. “Something like that.”

“Hm,” Doyoung said, leaning back in his seat. “What do you think happened to him?”

“I really don’t know,” Jaehyun said. He drove down the road, frowning as his eyes scanned the empty streets.

“Where are we going?”

“Moon’s?” Jaehyun said, confused.

“Jaehyun.”

“Yes?”

“It’s 5 in the morning.”

Jaehyun paused. “Ah.”

“They aren’t open.”

“I know,” Jaehyun said awkwardly. “Well, I guess we’re just going to have to kill some time first.”

They ended up at Huang’s, like how they always did. Renjun simply pointed at their usual booth, turning around, his usually gentle voice shrill as he yelled into the kitchen. “Dejun make the two lovebirds’ usuals! They’re here again!” He turned back to the duo, who were furiously blushing. “You’re later than usual this morning.”

“We uh,” Jaehyun said as Renjun let them to their booth, “we got caught up with something.”

Renjun eyed them suspiciously. “Ew.”

“It wasn’t like that!” Doyoung interjected, “we aren’t together Injun!”

“Uh huh,” Renjun nodded, placing two mugs of coffee in front of them. “That’s nice. Your food will be out in a second.” He said before turning around and leaning on the counter to talk to a coworker.

“This is awkward now,” Jaehyun said.

“No shit.”

“Well to be fair,” he paused, his amber eyes looking into Doyoung’s, “I really don’t mind.”

Doyoung turned pink. “Really?”

“I don’t. What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Well,” Jaehyun said, interrupted when Renjun arrived with plates of food, “it’s not a no.”

 

Doyoung should’ve known better. When Yukhei and Johnny entered the diner, Jaehyun’s face had immediately blanched before he groaned, “oh shit.” He seemed to have some sort of mental conversation with Johnny, who stared Jaehyun down across from the diner before Jaehyun leaned his head to the side. “I forgot about something I had to do.”

“What?”

Jaehyun stood up, leaving the usual crumpled bills on the table. “I’m so sorry Doyoung.”

“Where are you going?”

“I gotta go.” Jaehyun said, “I promise, we’ll go out and search for Yuta another day. I just, I really have to go.”

“Okay,” Doyoung sighed.

Jaehyun paused, one step away from the table. “Don’t go searching for him without me, okay?”

Doyoung looked at Jaehyun skeptically. “Okay.”

“Promise me.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Doyoung.”

“Ugh. Fine, I promise.”

Jaehyun smiled fondly, “good.” He said, before turning again to walk towards Johnny and Yukhei.

Doyoung twisted in the booth to watch him leave before he too stood up. Jaehyun might have claimed to know him, but he underestimated something. Doyoung was stubborn.

He left the diner, now more determined than ever to find Nakamoto Yuta.

 

Unlike before, Doyoung now had a solid lead. Moon’s.

It was midday now, well past the time Moon’s opened, but he was still shaken by his earlier interaction with the Moon matriarch, so he found himself turning not towards the restaurant, but instead towards their house, since he knew that on Wednesdays Taeil would be the only one home.

He paused in front of the door to unlock it, walking into the quiet home. “Taeil?” Doyoung said, his voice small in the giant house. He heard faint voices coming from upstairs, and figuring that Taeil was engrossed with another one of his dramas, he laughed under his breath and crept up the stairs. “I’ll scare him,” Doyoung thought evilly as his feet padded silently towards Taeil’s room.

“—I just don’t understand why you can’t give me what I want.” A deep voice rang out from Taeil’s room.

“Because there’s nothing I can do.” Taeil responded. Doyoung paused. “It’s not my fault—”

“But it is! You could’ve talked to them, tried to stop them!”

“I can’t control them. You know that’s how it works.”

“...I’m sorry. I know. It’s just, Jaehyun got hurt. Yuta’s gone, and god Taeil, I just know you know where he is.”

There was the sound of shuffling before Taeil spoke again. “I’m sorry too, I should have warned you.”

“No, it’s still my fault. I should have held myself back earlier, than no one would have found out.”

“No, I wanted it too. I just didn’t want everything that comes with it.”

“I should’ve known better. An alpha’s scent is always easier to trace.” _What?_

“They would have been able to tell anyways.”

“Does it hurt?” The voice asked.

“My neck?” Taeil said, “no.”

“You—you look good with my mark.” The voice said lowly and Doyoung squeaked.

“I—shit, Johnny did you hear something?” Taeil’s voice said, louder this time. Doyoung’s eyes widened and in a flash, he was silently descending the stairs as fast as he could. As quickly as he entered, he exited, taking care to be as quiet as possible.

_What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!_

Doyoung scrambled into his car, fumbling with his keys before jerking his car backwards and out of the driveway.

_What the fuck._

Doyoung glanced up, spotting the curtain in Taeil’s room window swaying back and forth.

_What the fuck._

Doyoung’s mind raced as he floored it on his way home.

_What the fuck._

 

His mind was still moving a mile-a-minute as he walked into his home, the inside of his brain cluttered and wildly coming up with different conclusions. He threw his keys on the kitchen counter and clutched his head in his hands, trying to stop everything from spinning.

“Hey.” Jeno said, emitting a loud crunch as he bit into an apple. “Can you do something for me?”

“What?” Doyoung asked, distracted, “yeah, sure. I guess.”

Jeno slid a list over to Doyoung. “I gotta start my summer reading soon. Can you run over to the library and grab these for me?”

Doyoung glanced down at the paper, covered in Jeno’s illegible scrawl. “Okay,” menial tasks. He can do this. It might even be good, to get his mind off everything. “I’ll be back in a few.”

Jeno nodded, taking another loud bite of his apple. “Thanks.”

 

The library did a little to slow Doyoung’s mind, as he methodically traced the shelves looking for copies of _The Crucible_ and AP Chemistry study books. He finally crossed off the second-to-last name on the list, lugging along his large stack of books as he scanned the area for the last book.

The copy of _Herbs and Incense_ was hard to find, but eventually, after Doyoung scoured the entirety of the small library until the loud hum of the air conditioning almost caused him to go insane, he finally located the tiny leather-bound book towards the back on a dusty shelf. Doyoung sneezed as he pulled out the small book, adding it to his pile. He was about to walk away, when something caught his eye. Right next to the book, a faded spine jutted out of the shelf, and for some reason Doyoung couldn’t help himself as his fingers wrapped around the edge of the book and he pulled it out.

The cover was plain, just a royal purple leather and dark gold lettering reading, _A Complete Guide to San Marco._ Doyoung glanced around, and upon seeing no one in sight, sat down, the large book in his lap.

He flipped open the book, the yellowing pages emitting the scent of parchment and mothballs. The book was clearly old, and the date hand scrawled in the corner, 1959, confirmed that.

**_AN INTRODUCTION:_ **

_Welcome to San Marco Township, a small town in southern California bordering the Pacific. Home to a population of less that one thousand people, the town thrives during the summer tourist season, when people all along the western coast flock to the area. San Marco is famous for their beach and scenic views, and features many amenities to sustain that industry._

_However, during the offseason, San Marco can be quite the perilous place to navigate. Thus, the need for a guide such as this. Consider this to be chock full of everything you would ever need to know to survive in this town._

_And remember, nothing is ever as it seems._

**_—GM._ **

Doyoung paused, laughing to himself nervously. Obviously, this book was just a joke written by someone a half a century ago. However, that did nothing to stop him from checking out the thick purple tome along with Jeno’s books. He felt a bit like a criminal, unable to ignore the innocent looking copy sitting on the passenger seat besides him before he tucked it under his arm, walking into his house. He dropped Jeno’s books off on the table before scurrying upstairs, the guide heavy in his hands.

Doyoung curled up on his bed, surrounding himself with his blanket before he finally cracked over the cover again.

**_CHAPTER I:_ **

_Never go into the woods of San Marco alone._

_You never know what you might come across, whether it be a hungry vampire or tricky fae. You might even stumble upon a witch or werewolf._

Doyoung scoffed, now sure that the book was fiction, and sighed, now feeling quite stupid for his earlier uneasiness. However, he couldn’t stop himself from reading more.

_Finding the werewolves of San Marco would most definitely result in an untimely death, considering that they are considered to be the most hostile and ferocious of the bunch (followed by vampires, witches, and fae, in that order). Differentiating between an ordinary wolf and a shifter is very simple._

_They’re often bigger and their packs are smaller, however the most recognizable difference is simple. Their eyes. Were eyes are a reddish-gold hue._

Doyoung gulped, his mind flashing to amber eyes.

_Few images exist of weres, considering that most do not survive encounters with the creatures, but there are a few. On the next page, I have helpfully inserted the best surviving photo of a known were._

**_—GM._ **

Doyoung flipped the page and immediately dropped the book like it was made of hot coals. His fingers shook and his world seemed to crash down, focusing on amber-hued eyes staring back at him on a very familiar body. The wolf in the photo was frozen in time, but Doyoung wasn’t blind. _His wolf_ was in that photo, down to the small, white, peach shaped patch of fur on its back. But that wasn’t the worst part.

Opposite of Peach, was a portrait of a handsome guy grinning at the camera, dimples wide and care-free. Both of the photos had the same caption.

_J. Jaehyun._

Doyoung felt like he couldn’t breath. It should be impossible. It had to be impossible. And yet, Jaehyun’s eyes squinted back up at him, the exact same as on the wolf in the photo next to him.

Every fiber of Doyoung’s logical mind was screaming at him that this was wrong, it had to be. But the evidence was there, and the pieces started to click together in his head with terrifying clarity. It all made sense to him, the odd things people would say, the weird behavior, the strange comments. The limp, the scar, the way Jaehyun’s nostrils flared whenever Doyoung got too close, the way Peach seemed to understand him. The way they shared the same eyes. The truth stared back at him, hued in amber.

Werewolves were real.

They lived in San Marco.

Jaehyun was a werewolf.

Nothing was what it seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so tired but its done !! chapter is f inishe d!!


	7. VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all, Jaehyun is a very handsome wolf.

It was difficult. Imagine learning that everything you’ve ever known could be false, and that what you thought was impossible was the norm.  _ A Complete Guide To San Marco  _ was stuffed under Doyoung’s bed, he hadn’t even looked at the book since laying eyes on that photo of Jaehyun.

He had gone through his day in a daze, completely and utterly astonished, anxiously shying away from all human contact and hiding in his room. When the sun set, he pulled the blinds down and tried to fitfully fall asleep, flinching at every sound that came from the woods.

But he still went to the beach.

 

Doyoung yawned, but his eyes refused to rest as he sat, nerves on edge waiting for the sounds of Jaehyun’s footsteps.

“Hey.” Doyoung jerked up, staring at Jaehyun who casually sat down next to him. “You look like shit, did you even sleep?”

“No.” Doyoung scowled, “I had things on my mind.”

“Like what?” Jaehyun asked, his head tilting to the side curiously, like a dog.

“Jaehyun, what would you do if you found out about something about someone that would change everything?”

Jaehyun laughed nervously, “you’re going to have to be more specific about that.”

“Like something was fundamentally different about someone, maybe about a lot of people.” Doyoung said, his eyes scanning over Jaehyun’s face for an ounce of a reaction. “Something that would change everything you’ve known about the world.”

Jaehyun didn’t meet Doyoung’s eyes, his fingers digging into the sand. “You’re being weird.”

“Am I?” Doyoung asked, his eyes narrowing. Jaehyun flanced up but quickly shot his eyes down again. “I’m not so sure.”

“I’m sure you’re just imagining everything. Maybe you should sleep more.”

“A lot of people have been telling me that, but I think they’re just trying to hide something.”

“I have nothing to hide.”

“Apparently.” Doyoung hummed, “although, don’t you find some of the things that happen in this town odd?”

Jaehyun gulped. “Like what?”

“I was just reading a book about the history of our town,” Jaehyun’s head jerked up, “and I found some odd facts.”

“A book?” He said and gritted his teeth. “Where?”

“The library.” Doyoung said innocently.

Jaehyun scowled and stood up, running his fingers through his hair. “Shit.” He muttered.

“What was that?”

“I gotta—I gotta-”

“You have to go?” Doyoung said, looking up at Jaehyun and raising his eyebrow.

“Y-yes.” Jaehyun said, distracted.

“Then by all means,” Doyoung narrowed his eyes, “go.”

 

Doyoung was at work when he spotted it. Ten was angrily sweeping up a mess of sprinkles some bratty kids had spilled when Doyoung happened to glance out the window, spying a familiar face.

Well, the face wasn’t actually connected to a body, just plastered on a piece of paper, but Doyoung’s eyes still widened. “I’m going on break,” he muttered to Ten, causing his coworker to groan as Doyoung shoved past the line forming near the cash register.

Like usual, the heat smacked Doyoung’s face and his visor did little to stop the bright light from nearly blinding him as he squinted, moving quickly towards the telephone pole that had caught his attention. Scratch that, it was what was on the telephone pole that had caught his attention.

The glare from the sun was constant as Doyoung squinted to make out the face on the creased poster.

Nakamoto Yuta’s smiling face beamed back at him, the cheerful expression juxtaposed which large red letters above it. The word  **MISSING** stood out in a bold font, blazing itself into Doyoung’s eyes.

His head spun as he whipped his eyes around the street, spotting the same face staring back at him from identical posters, the innocent smile boring into his memory.

“Oh no,” Doyoung whispered.

 

The fliers just served to cement into reality that Yuta was truly, and honestly missing. It was weird, knowing that a face Doyoung used to see so often was gone. He didn’t even know why he was so upset, he just feel unsettled, like something was going on that wouldn’t end well.

He wanted to confess all of his anxieties to someone, but he couldn’t. No one would believe him, and the one person that could have was avoiding him. Doyoung wasn’t surprised when he ended up alone on the beach the next morning, but he couldn’t help but angrily dig his hands into the sand.

There was too much going on, from the book, to Jaehyun’s avoidance, to the fliers. The fliers started popping up everywhere, and Doyoung could barely leave his house without seeing that smile, every glance just built the tower of confusion and frustration building inside of him. He felt like he was a fraction of an inch away from the truth, but the truth was always just out of his grasp.

But his frustrations all culminated when he spotted Taeyong, sweet, funny, caring Taeyong tearing down one of Yuta’s posters so aggressively that Doyoung was shocked at the way his friend’s face turned cold, fingers shredding the paper to bits.

He saw red as he chased after his friend’s tense body, only catching up to him when Taeyong paused at the small towel shack on the beach to talk to Jeno and Jisung.

“So you would just mix the two together and-”

“Hey.” Doyoung cut off his brother and grabbed Taeyong’s shoulder, turning the other around. “What the fuck Taeyong?”

Taeyong eyed him with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Doyoung?” Jeno asked, eyes peeking over a stack of towels he was folding, “why are you here?”

“This guy,” Doyoung jerked his thumb towards Taeyong, “tore down one of Yuta’s posters.”

“Oh,” Taeyong scowled. “Yeah, I did that. So what?”

“So what?! Taeyong, he’s missing! This is serious, what the fuck?”

“Well I—I-”

Doyoung rolled his eyes, “why would you do that?! Oh god Taeyong, it’s so wrong. He could be hurt, or even dead!”

“Stop overreacting.” Taeyong spat, “and Yuta, you don’t even know him!”

“That shouldn’t matter! He’s fucking missing!”

Jisung slowly hid his body behind a stack of tables, his eyes avoiding the other two. Jeno glanced between his friend and his brother before gulping and following suit. “Well I know him! And let me tell you, Nakamoto Yuta is not a good guy.” Taeyong glared, “you literally know nothing Doyoung.”

“What did he ever do to you?!”

“Maybe if you stopped listening to fucking Jaehyun and paid more attention to your actual friends you’d know. He’s hiding stuff from you.”

“He’s not the only one.” Doyoung hissed.

Taeyong’s nostrils flared before he jabbed his finger at Doyoung’s chest. “Just—just stop worrying about all of this so goddamn much. You’ll be much better off if you just stop paying attention to this shit.” Taeyong said bitterly, slamming his hand down on the counter of the towel shack, both of them ignoring Jisung’s small squeal in fear. “Yuta is just fine, I know it.” He growled right before he turned around, storming away.

Doyoung swore, causing his brother and Jisung to flinch yet again before he turned in the opposite direction and stalked away over the beach.

It didn’t make any sense, but he could feel Taeyong’s words twisting around him, trying to sneak their way into his mind. A battle raged inside of Doyoung, his trusted friend versus someone he had just gotten to know, but for some reason, Doyoung still leaned more towards Jaehyun.

Still, he was confused. Doyoung didn’t like to be confused, he liked to have all the answers, for reality to be set in place. So he went to the only source of information he had, the book.

 

It was inevitable, really. The book had stayed in the back of Doyoung’s mind since the first night he read it, and when he found himself curled up on the porch in his familiar set up, but this time with the heavy-leather bound copy of  _ A Guide to San Marco  _ in his hands, he wasn’t surprised.

**_Chapter II:_ **

_ Witches are an odd bunch. Unlike the other creatures in San Marco, they aren’t born from the supernatural, rather they are created. _

Doyoung’s eyes flitted towards the woods, the trees shrouded in darkness.

_ It’s a bit of a conundrum, really. How do humans survive in San Marco amid all of the madness and chaos? The answer is simple: they become the supernatural. _

There was an annoying group of mayflies soaring over Doyoung’s head, but he ignored them, flipping a page.

_ There’s an age-old ritual that humans can undergo to become witches. It goes as following: _

Doyoung’s head shot up as a loud snap of a twig rang through the woods.

  1. _You must receive blessings from the clan and pack heads in the area, or else you will be hunted for the rest of your life._



“Hello?” Doyoung asked, squinting into the night.

  1. _You must gather, at midnight on the longest night, with one representative of each supernatural group in your area._



Doyoung stood up, hesitantly stepping towards the woods. He could just barely make out a large mass that seemed to shrink back as he moved forward.

  1. _Recite the spell. (The spell must come from your mentor, it can only be passed from teacher to student.)_



“Peach? Is that you?” Doyoung asked, at the edge where his property met the woods. There was a sound of a whimper as Doyoung could spy the wolf backing up in the trees, head turning like it was looking for an escape.

  1. _Complete the ritual._



_ However, there is one thing that comes with becoming a witch, one price to pay. _

“Jaehyun?” Doyoung said hesitantly, and the wolf froze before slowly turning to stare at Doyoung, familiar amber eyes boring into him.

_ Your mortality. _

**_—GM._ **

“I—I know it’s you,” Doyoung whispered, holding out his hands. “I’m not scared.”

The wolf—Jaehyun—whined before slowly stepping out of the trees. It paused, but then pushed its snout into Doyoung’s palm.

“Is it you?” Doyoung asked hesitantly, allowing his fingers to curl into his fur.

The wolf let out a sigh before it closed its eyes, its entire body beginning to shift. Horrific cracks and pops of bones snapping into place forced Doyoung to squeeze his eyes shut, his stomach churning as the disgusting sounds rang through his ears. However, it all stopped suddenly as calloused hands slid into Doyoung’s hands.

Doyoung tentatively opened his eyes before letting out a gasp, the hands dropping from his grasp as his own flew up to cover his wide mouth. Jung Jaehyun smiled sadly at him, amber eyes drowning in regret as they scanned Doyoung’s face for any sign of a reaction.

“Oh my god—”

“I’m sorry, I—”

“Jaehyun—”

“I’ll just go—”

“No!” Doyoung said, his hands flying out to grasp onto Jaehyun’s face, “I’m just—I’m just kind of shocked, that’s all.”

“Please forget about all of this.” Jaehyun whispered, his eyes sliding shut as Doyoung’s fingers brushed against his jaw.

“How could I?” Doyoung asked.

“I’m putting you in a lot of danger.”

“I really don’t care.” Doyoung frowned, and Jaehyun’s eyes opened again. “You sound like an angsty teen right now.”

“I technically am one.” Jaehyun said, cracking a small smile.

“Really? How old are you?” Doyoung asked suspiciously.

Jaehyun winced, “I’ll explain it all in a second.”

Doyoung smiled wryly. “You better.” He glanced around at the darkness and shuddered, “actually, do you want to come inside?” He asked, gesturing towards the dimly lit house.

“That would be nice,” Jaehyun said.

Doyoung stepped towards his house, “yeah and then we can talk—oh my god.”

“What?” Jaehyun asked, cocking his head to the side, a bit like a puppy.

Doyoung’s cheeks blazed bright red and he looked everywhere but Jaehyun, willing to be striked down from the Earth at that moment. “You’re naked.”

Jaehyun flushed, looking down before immediately covering himself. “Oops?” He said, smiling awkwardly, “it’s a side effect.”

“Come—come inside,” Doyoung muttered, covering his eyes with his hands, “you can borrow some clothes.”

“Are you sure?” Doyoung peaked out from his fingers, squeaking when he saw Jaehyun smirking back at him. “You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“Fuck you Peach.”

“After all, I am a very handsome wolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry this took so long!! ive just been [insert excuse here]


	8. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung finally learns the truth.

Jaehyun sat in Doyoung’s kitchen, clothed in one of Doyoung’s old school sweatshirts and shorts. His face was a sickly yellow under the bright fluorescent lighting, and his fingers drummed nervously against the kitchen counter.

“Well?”

“I just don’t really know what to say.”

“Tell me about everything.”

“Well I guess I’ll just start from the beginning,” Jaehyun muttered. “I’m a part of the Seo Pack.”

“Seo, like Johnny Seo?” Doyoung blinked.

“Well actually his mom, but yes.” Jaehyun said, “Johnny is next-in-line to take over the pack incase something ever happens.”

“A pack? God, this really is like Twilight.”

“Ew,” Jaehyun frowned. “Stop, listening to you read from that dumb werewolf book was bad enough.”

Doyoung flushed, “Taeil gave it to me!”

Jaehyun’s mouth twisted, pausing slightly. “Ah,” he said, interrupting the awkward silence. “Anyways, you obviously know what a werewolf is.”

Doyoung nodded, suddenly unable to stop the spill of words coming out of his mouth. “Can you change at will? Are your senses heightened? Do you have a mate? What’s your place in the pack? Do you heal faster?  _ How old are you—” _

“Yes I can change at will, and my senses are heightened. I can see in the dark, and smell and hear a lot better than humans. I’m a beta in the pack, and I also heal faster. Also as to how old I am—I’m not sure.” Jaehyun traced his fingertips over the countertop.

“What do you mean?”

“I uh, I don’t know? We age extremely slowly and just sort of operate on a cycle of the same things every year.”

Doyoung frowned, trying to process this new information. “Wait so how old are you, physically?”

“I just reached adulthood, so probably 18.”

“That’s insane.”

“Not really, everyone in San Marco is like that.”

Doyoung blinked. “Wait—”

“Didn’t you read that one book? Everyone in San Marco is supernatural.”

Doyoung’s stomach churned. “I know but—I guess I just thought it was exaggerated.”

“We were just living normally, but once you and your family moved in, we all assumed normal human lives. We went to school, got normal jobs, starting hiding things. But that wasn’t too hard, families have come and gone a lot in the history of San Marco. We’re used to having to pretend.”

“So  _ everyone  _ isn’t human?”

Jaehyun looked away awkwardly. “That’s right.”

“Oh. Okay.” Doyoung muttered. His thoughts were spinning and the unnatural glare of the lights above gave him a headache.

“Are you alright?” Jaehyun asked tentatively, his fingers slowly sliding across the countertop to rest over Doyoung’s hands. Jaehyun’s touch grounded Doyoung.

“Yes—no—I don’t know?” Doyoung said, “god this is so stupid. We should have never moved here.”

Jaehyun frowned. “Well  _ I’m  _ glad you came here.”

Doyoung squinted at Jaehyun, muttering “why is that?”

Jaehyun smiled softly, “why did you guys come to San Marco anyways?”

“I don’t really know. My parents mentioned something about an old relative and inheritance. And—wait are you trying to change the subject?” Doyoung accused. “Why do you care?”

Jaehyun paused, his eyes darting around the kitchen. “There’s a group out to get us right now.”

Doyoung narrowed his eyes but took the bait anyways, Jaehyun’s sudden anxious energy piquing Doyoung’s concern. “Who?”

“We’ve—our pack, the Seo Pack—coexisted in San Marco with these people for the longest time but,” Jaehyun frowned, “Johnny did something that upset their leaders.”

“What did he do?”

Jaehyun hesitated, “I don’t know if I should—”

“Oh come on!” Doyoung said, his frustrations exploding and his fist slamming against the counter. “My life has already been flipped fucking upside down, and you’re still keeping stuff from me?!”

Jaehyun frowned, “calm down,” he said, grabbing onto Doyoung’s flailing hands and rubbing his thumb soothingly over the back of his palms. “I know this is a lot to take in, but seriously. The problem between the Seo Pack and that other group is between Johnny and his mate.”

Doyoung panted, slowly coming down before he raised an eyebrow. “Mate?”

Jaehyun flushed. “Shit.”

“Who’s his mate?”

“So Johnny just recently found out that—”

Doyoung ripped his hand out of Jaehyun’s grasp, glaring at him. “Are you avoiding the question?”

“—he recently found at that his mate is the son of the heads of the other group in San Marco and they, uh, I don’t know how to phrase this in ways you’ll understand, but they illegally mated?”

“Wait answer the—” 

“You see,” Jaehyun frantically ran his fingers through his hair, “they really really really want to be together but his parents just don’t approve and it’s just so complicated because before they would’ve been fine with it but then something happened with one of their close friends and Yuta so—”

“You—”

“But Johnny definitely crossed the line and now tensions are rising and they all culminated when—”

“Jaehyun—”

“When she attacked me—”

“Wait you got hurt?”

Jaehyun paused, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, “remember? I showed up at your porch with a cut leg, well Peach did.”

“Oh,” Doyoung says dumbly. “I forgot. Who hurt you?”

“Their group’s leader got me a payback for Johnny’s actions with her son.”

“No who is it, specifically?”

Jaehyun coughed nervously. “Uh,”

“And who’s Johnny’s mate?”

Jaehyun stood up, “I think—it’s late, maybe I should go—”

“No,” Doyoung’s hand shot out, gripping Jaehyun’s shoulder, “tell me.”

Jaehyun tensed suddenly, his amber eyes glazing over for a brief second, “shit, Johnny needs me. Doyoung, I really gotta go—”

“Hey stop you have to tell me!”

Jaehyun twisted out of Doyoung’s grasp, opening the sliding glass door, “get some sleep. I just told you a lot,” he said apologetically, stepping through the doors. “Goodnight, Doyoung.”

“No!” Doyoung cried out, but it was too late. He was interrupted by loud cracking sounds as Jaehyun’s bones morphed into place and he disappeared into the woods. “Fuck you!” Doyoung cursed, slamming his hand against the kitchen counter.

Doyoung groaned, looking up at the ceiling light, his head spinning slightly. Then he sighed, dragging himself off of his seat and towards the hall, making sure to flip off the lights as he went.

The house was quiet, sans the soft sounds of video games coming from Jeno’s room. Multicolored light from his screen flickered out from under the crack in Jeno’s door as Doyoung tiredly trudged down the hall to his room.

Doyoung flopped down on his duvet, his head turning to look out into the dark woods. He still had a lot of questions. He still didn’t know what to do. He still had a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach that everything was different.

But right now, there wasn’t much he could do other than heed Jaehyun’s advice. Doyoung tore his eyes away from the trees, squeezing them shut and drifting off into a dreamless, unsettling, sleep.

 

The beach was a constant.

No matter how many things were are going on in Doyoung’s life, he’s always been able to count on the beach. The waves lapped at Doyoung’s toes as he sat on the sand, the loud sounds of water crashing drowning out the awkward tension between him and the boy who sat a foot away from him.

Jaehyun had also become a constant in his life. But this time, when Doyoung made his daily drive down to Beach 127, Jaehyun was waiting for him, staring out into the waves.

“Morning, Doyoung.” Jaehyun muttered.

“Morning,” Doyoung hesitantly responded.

“Did you sleep well?”

“No.”

Jaehyun snorted, “I figured. Listen, I’m really sorry I dropped all of that on you like that. I just—there’s something about you that makes me want to tell you everything.”

Doyoung turned to look at Jaehyun, his eyes glancing over the way the salt-scented wind blew through his chestnut hair. “But you don’t.”

“I know.”

“You should,” Doyoung said. “Or at least, I want you to.”

“I know that too,” Jaehyun said, cracking a small smile. “You’ve always been so curious.”

“Always?” Doyoung asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I notice things.” Jaehyun said.

“Then you’ve definitely noticed that I really want to know everything.”

Jaehyun laughed loudly, interrupting the sounds of the ocean. “Doyoung, a rock could notice that.”

“Then tell me! Who’s Johnny’s mate?”

Jaehyun frowned, “I don’t think you’ll like the answer.”

“Just tell me.”

Jaehyun hesitated, his amber eyes glancing back and forth between Doyoung and the waves. “Just promise me you won’t freak out okay?”

“I promise.” Doyoung rolled his eyes.

“Moon Taeil.”

 

Doyoung broke his promise.

His fingers tapped frantically against the steering wheel of his car, mouth sour from the yells that had fallen from his lips minutes before when he accused Jaehyun of lying.

Taeil was his best friend, it didn’t really make sense.  _ “Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? Tell me the goddamn truth.” _

_ “Wait Doyoung, I’m not lying.” _

The tires of his car rumbled against the gravel of the Moon’s driveway. As Doyoung stepped out of his car, the rising sun shone behind the roof of their large house.

_ “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you just ask him yourself?” _

_ “I will!” _

Doyoung pulled out his keys, quietly inserting it and opening the door slowly. He winced as the door squeaked, pausing in the still house before stepping inside. It was early, but he knew the only person in the house would be Taeil. His parents were most-likely already at the restaurant, getting things ready to open.

“Taeil?” He said, glancing up.

“Doyoung?” Taeil’s voice floated down from his bedroom. “What are you doing here so early?”

“I had something to ask you,” Doyoung said, toeing off his shoes and walking up the stairs.

“Okay.” Taeil responded. Doyoung pushed open the door to Taeil’s room, seeing his friend sitting at his desk, flipping through a large leather-bound book.

“Looking at recipes again?”

“Uh huh,” Taeil muttered, closing the cover and spinning around to look at Doyoung. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to ask you some stuff.”

“Like what?” Taeil asked, cocking his head.

“Well first I guess, how do you know Johnny Seo?”

Taeil’s brows furrowed. “The same way you do. We went to school together.” Taeil laughed, “are you feeling okay?”

“I overhead you two talking the other day.”

His friend’s shoulders tensed. “Doyoung,” he said lowly, “what do you mean?”

“He was in your room.”

Taeil frowned. “Okay, so maybe we know each other. But he was just helping me with something for my parents. That’s all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Taeil said, “now what is this really about? I’m allowed to talk to other people—”

“What do you think about werewolves?”

Taeil froze. “What?” He asked slowly.

“You know, people who can turn into wolves.”

“I know what werewolves are. And what about them? Is this about that book I lent you?”

“No, it’s about us. I mean,” Doyoung fumbled, “I don’t know. I just have this weird feeling that—”

“Oh Doyoung,” Taeil said nervously, “are you having weird dreams again?”

“What? No! Take me seriously—”

“You’ve been really stressed lately, you’re speaking nonsense.” Taeil’s eyes flickered between Doyoung and the door.

“I’m not, I mean, I’m trying to talk to you about something and you’re just—”

“Maybe you should just relax on your own—”

“God dammit,” Doyoung fumed, “Taeil what I’m trying to say is that I know the supernatural is real, and I know that it’s here. In San Marco.”

Taeil paused. His eyes widened as he looked at the other before he spoke, his quiet voice filling the still air. “There are no werewolves in Beach 127”

Doyoung stammered, “no there is—”

“You’re imagining everything.” Taeil said frantically, standing up.

“No there was this book and then Jaehyun—” Doyoung shook his head, “Taeil,” he said quietly, “what are you?”

“I’m your friend,” Taeil said, laughing nervously. “I always have been.”

“I know,” Doyoung said. “But are you—” Doyoung was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

“Taeil? Is everything alright?” A soft voice called.

“Shit,” Taeil whispered, “yeah!” He yelled down to his mom, “everything’s fine.” He turned to look at Doyoung, frowning. “At least it will be.”

“What?” Doyoung’s brows furrowed as Taeil stepped closer to him. “What are you doing?”

The bedroom door opens behind Doyoung and Taeil looked past him, nodding.  “I’m really sorry Doyoung.” Taeil said, looking genuinely apologetic.

Doyoung backed up frantically, slamming against another body that gripped his hands behind his back. “I’m sorry too.”

“Taeyong? What are you doing here?” Doyoung frantically turned his head to look at his other friend.

Taeyong started muttering something in response but Doyoung couldn’t hear him, his head suddenly heavy and the air thick. Doyoung felt sluggish, like the fatigue of everything was suddenly attacking him. His eyelids fluttered shut despite his struggles. “What—what’s happening?” He yawned.

“Just go to sleep.” Taeil smiled sadly. Doyoung felt his limbs grow weak and he suddenly crumpled to the ground, his eyes blearily staring up at the ceiling. There was knocking at the door—at least he thought he heard knocking. He didn’t know anymore, too focused on the way his head spun.

Doyoung vaguely registered a soft voice behind him but the only thing he can sense is the black spots floating in his vision as he succumbed to sleep. Right before he blacked out however, he caught a glimpse of Taeyong and Taeil standing over him. As his mind fought through grogginess, he could have sworn Taeyong’s hands were glowing green and Taeil’s eyes were bright red.

“I didn’t want this to happen to you.” Taeil’s voice pierced into Doyoung’s foggy brain, the last thing he heard before everything turned dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm actually so sorry this took so long :((


	9. IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung meets Nakamoto Yuta.

He woke up, his face pressed against cold concrete. Doyoung blinked, blurry grey shapes swimming around in front of his eyes before settling into recognizable shapes of dingy furniture in the dim light. He shot up with a start, his head jerking around and his eyes wide. “What the fuck—where am I?!”

“You’re awake,” Doyoung’s head turned towards the voice, his eyes squinting as a dark figure stood at the top of a set of wooden stairs, golden light spilling around the feminine silhouette.

“Mrs. Moon?” Doyoung asked incredulously as the elegant woman sipped from a glass of dark red wine. A sharp metallic tang was in the air and Doyoung whipped his head around, realizing he was in the Moon’s basement.

“It’s a shame,” Mrs. Moon said, smiling and Doyoung could just see a small glimpse of something sharp. “We really did like you, Doyoung.” From behind Mrs. Moon, Doyoung could just barely see another figure, this time even more familiar. Taeil’s apologetically stared back at Doyoung before the door shut, enshrouding Doyoung in darkness.

“No!” Doyoung cried out as he stumbled up the stairs, trying to open the door but it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s no use,” a weak voice said from behind him. Doyoung jerked his head back, just barely making out a shrouded form from the weak light a small window let in.

“Who are you?” Doyoung said suspiciously.

The person stood up, wobbling slightly before stepping into the small beam of light. Doyoung sucked in a gasp. “Nakamoto Yuta,” he said weakly before falling to his knees again. This time, Doyoung heard the heavy clank of chains as he fell. “Shit,” Yuta mumbled.

Doyoung ran down the stairs, helping Yuta sit back up. “Oh my god,” he panicked as Yuta groaned in pain. “Are you okay?”

Yuta nodded, waving away Doyoung’s hands but Doyoung could still see the way his face was sickly and pale. “Yeah just—they just chained me up in silver.” Yuta winced and Doyoung eyed his red wrists, cuffed in dark metal.

“Oh,” Doyoung blinked, “werewolves get harmed by silver.”

Yuta glanced at him, “so Jaehyun finally broke? He told you?” Yuta laughed bitterly, “figured. After all, you are his—”

“What happened? Why are you down here?”

Yuta groaned, “I was attacked, then captured. They had to get payback.”

“Payback for what?”

“I attacked Jungwoo.” Yuta said weakly, “almost killed that damn bloodsucker too. He deserved it though.”

Doyoung furrowed his eyebrows. “Bloodsucker?”

“Did Jaehyun not tell you?” Yuta said, rolling his eyes. “Figured. So vampires are real.”

Doyoung nodded dumbly. At this point, nothing was surprising. Someone could tell him that his brother was a fairy and he wouldn’t bat an eye.

“The Moon’s are vampires.”

“Okay,” Doyoung said quietly. Taeil was his best friend. Taeil was a vampire. Okay. “Why did he deserve it?”

“Johnny and Taeil are mates, Johnny marked Taeil, Moon’s got angry and attacked Jaehyun, I attacked Jungwoo in return, Moon’s trapped me in their fucking basement and I’ll stay here and shrivel up until I die.” Yuta said monotonously, letting his head lull onto Doyoung’s shoulder.

Doyoung pat the werewolf awkwardly. “You won’t die, they’ll find us. Jaehyun will find us.”

“No one’s been able to find me so far,” Yuta said, defeated. “They never will. I’m all cuffed up, masking almost all of my scent. Even what they would be able to detect is stopped by the silver lined doors and windows. Beside’s, the Moon’s are even stronger now.” Yuta laughed bitterly.

“Why?”

“Were blood is more powerful, gives them strength. I’ll just sit here, like a living bloodbag, until one day they take too much and I die.” Yuta mumbled. He lifted his hand weakly, “see, I’ve even got my own bottle.”

Doyoung followed the line of Yuta’s arm to a shelf of bottles, one that Doyoung knew as Mrs. Moon’s famous wine collection. He stood up, walking over and picking up one of the dark bottles. In the dim light, he could just barely make out tiny handwriting enscrawling  _ Nakamoto Yuta, 2019  _ on the glass. He almost dropped the bottle, jerking back. “Oh my god,” Doyoung breathed out, glancing over the bottles in disgust, reading names upon names, going back centuries. A newer bottle sat next to Yuta’s and Doyoung gingerly picked it up, squinting to see the inscription.  _ Lee Jeno, 2018.  _ Doyoung tasted bile rising in his throat and he let out a sob.

“What’s wrong?” Yuta asked, unable to move towards Doyoung due to his chains.

“My brother. They got Jeno?” Doyoung was unable to even look at the dark red liquid as he turned around, face a picture of horror.

Yuta sighed, “probably. He hangs around Taeyong too much.”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow, “Yuta, what  _ is  _ Taeyong? What is he doing to my brother?” He spat out.

“Oh,” Yuta looked down. “I thought you would’ve known considering—”

“What is he?!” Doyoung said, his mind still on his brother’s name, encased in blood.

“A witch.”

“And what is he doing to my brother?” Doyoung said pleadingly.

“The same thing that happened to him.”

“What do you mean?” Doyoung stepped towards Yuta, stumbling down next to him.

“I—nearly a century ago, someone new moved into our town.”

“Taeyong?”

“Yes. He was a human, but he knew about all of us, and he was here to become one of us.” Yuta sighed, “he became the apprentice for the head witch at the time to teach him magic and help him through the ritual.” Yuta frowned, “that’s where the problems all started, that stupid ritual.”

“What is the ritual?”

“Once Taeyong was deemed to be ready, he had to undergo the ritual of actually becoming a witch, of giving up your mortality in exchange for living forever and the gift of magic. But no one except the witches knows what it actually is, we just know tiny snippets.” Yuta said, “but one of the things I do know is that it involves a sacrifice.”

“A sacrifice?!” Doyoung cried out.

Yuta scowled and slammed his hand against the concrete. “I should’ve known better. I could’ve stopped everything.”

“Stopped what?”

“When you become a witch, you have to offer your mortality to the earth, but that’s not enough. So you have to take someone else’s too. The person chosen, willingly or not, won’t die, but they will turn into another creature. One of the fae.”

“Fairies?” Doyoung said, his brows furrowing.

“Yes, but less like Pixie Hollow and more like the ones that lead lost travelers to their deaths and steal children.” Yuta said, “there’s a few in San Marco, and it’s honestly not a bad life to live if you don’t mind working at a shitty diner for the rest of your life. But fae are only created if the ritual is completed. If it’s interrupted, then they’re stuck in a weird limbo between mortality and immortality.”

“Yuta,” Doyoung said quietly, “what happened?”

“They become spirits, ghosts of their former selves. You’ll never see them again, but they’ll always still be there, just watching.” Yuta stared at the ceiling. “He’s probably watching right now.” He said, smiling sadly.

“Who is?”

“Ji Hansol.” Yuta said, “he was my best friend, a member of the Seo pack. But one night I woke up when he sent out an alarm signal, and I chased his scent through the woods until I stumbled upon them. Taeyong, his master, and Hansol. He looked like he was in a daze, actually they all looked like that.” Yuta shuddered, “I yelled his name and Hansol snapped out of it, but before he could run away back to me Taeyong woke up too and grabbed Hansol. We fought and I—well he surprised me with something and I lost, but before I was knocked out I made sure to bite Hansol’s neck and marked him.”

“Wait what? Why?”

“If a person is marked they can’t be used for those rituals. One of those weird virgin sacrifice rules. I wasn’t able to complete it before I passed out, but it was enough to end the ritual.” Yuta said, “but I was so fucking stupid! Because when I woke up, he wasn’t there. I thought Taeyong managed to finish his ritual, but when I chased him down and forced him to give me an answer, he said Hansol had become a spirit instead,” Yuta spat out bitterly. “It’s all my fucking fault.”

“No,” Doyoung said, “how were you supposed to know?”

Yuta sighed. “It doesn’t matter now, because we’ll die, just like Hansol did.”

“No!” Doyoung said, his eyes hardening, “we’ll figure something out, we’ll get out somehow, maybe I can convince Taeil and Taeyong—”

“Convince them what?” Yuta barked, “nothing! It’s not like Taeil’s going to disobey his parents, and Taeyong’s indebted to them, he would never.”

“They’re my  _ friends—” _

“You don’t even know them!” Yuta said, a sudden fire in his eyes, “you don’t know half of what they’re capable of. They lied to you the entire duration of your so-called friendship. You want to know the real fucking issue? Even if they could help, they can’t. Because I disrupted that stupid ritual, the biggest mistake of my life, Taeyong doesn’t have full powers. But the Moon’s, they helped him complete the ritual. Even made a whole new fae out of it, and I’m pretty sure that Renjun felt fan-fucking-tastic about it. And Taeyong? He can never pay that kind of favor back, he’s the Moon’s fucking lapdog, and everyone knows it. He would murder us in a heartbeat if they asked. Well, he would murder you. I might be a bit more difficult.” Yuta laughed bitterly.

Doyoung looked down at the cold concrete floor, his throat closing.

Yuta ranted on, the earlier spark in his eyes glowing brighter and brighter until they shone amber in the dark basement. “You’ll be the lucky one. Taeyong will probably just snap your neck and be done with it. But he won’t be able to murder his mate—”

“Mates?” Doyoung’s head shot up.

“Yeah isn’t it just so fucking perfect?” Yuta seethed, “imagine me, a scared wolf who had just physically become an adult, running through the woods to try to rescue his best friend, only to realize that he’d been taken by his destined soulmate.” Yuta scowled, anger emanating from his entire being. “Taeyong might not be able to kill me, or sever our bond. But he can keep the one thing my wolf wants more than anything else in the world away from me. And,” suddenly, as quickly as the anger appeared, it was gone. “I fucking deserve it.” Yuta’s shoulder’s sagged.

“No you don’t,”

“I murdered my best friend, not Taeyong. I was the one who forced my mate into a life of servitude, not Taeyong. I’m the reason why we can’t live a perfect life in a little house on the beach, like how I always wanted to. Taeyong’s right in rejecting me, I just make mistakes.” Yuta said, laying back down on the concrete and turning on his side.

“You don’t,” Doyoung said back. “And we’re going to get out. And everything’s going to turn out just fine.”

Yuta snorted. “This is the real world Doyoung. I admire your optimism, but you really have to know the truth.”

“What?”

“San Marco isn’t a fucking fairytale.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys i swear i have a vision for this fic its just this dialogue kills me plus im in the process of graduating which means a lot of emotions right now


	10. X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung faces Taeyong and Taeil again.

Doyoung fell into a fitful sleep. He didn’t even know how he did it, with the hard concrete against his back and Yuta’s harsh presence as an everlasting reminder of what was to come.

“Doyoung, Doyoung are you there?” Doyoung blinked, his eyes fluttering open. They widened in shock as they took in their surroundings. He was no longer in the cold basement, instead trees rustled above him in the wind and a clear blue sky was overhead. “Doyoung?” The voice said again.

“Jaehyun?” Doyoung’s throat was dry and his voice crackled in the still air. He leaned up, eyes glancing around.

“Oh my god Doyoung, you can see me!”

“Jaehyun? Where are we? What’s happening?” Doyoung stumbled to his feet, spinning around and staring into the trees.

“I’m behind you.” Doyoung felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He jumped before whipping around, suddenly in front of Jaehyun’s kind face. “And you’re dreaming.”

“Dreaming?”

“Sometimes people are, uh, connected and can communicate to each other in dreams. But usually we only use it for emergencies.”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow. “Connected? Okay,” he muttered. “Well this certainly is an emergency.” Doyoung said wryly.

“It is,” Jaehyun said, and Doyoung could see the way his undereye circles were deep and his face gaunt. “I’m worried. Where are you?”

“The Moon’s basement. Yuta’s here too.”

Jaehyun perked up. “He is? How is he?”

“He’s not very good,” Doyoung admitted. “Physically and mentally.”

“Well Taeyong is probably ripping him a new one.” Jaehyun muttered. “So you know who the Moon’s are?”

“Yeah, straight out of Twilight or something.” Doyoung rolled his eyes.

“Dammit,” Jaehyun ran his hands frantically through his hair. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Jaehyun said, furrowing his brows. “I’ll kill them if they even  _ touch  _ you—”

“They haven’t done anything to me.”

“Not yet.” Jaehyun said, his glare hardening. “I’ll get you out of there, I promise.” Jaehyun’s eyes flashed amber and he looked up to stare at Doyoung determinedly.

Doyoung smiled sadly, “I know you will.”

“Doyoung, I’m serious. You’re going to get out of there.” Jaehyun stepped closer.

“I hope so.”

“Don’t hope, know.” Jaehyun said, his hands flying up to grip Doyoung’s shoulders.

“This is just a dream Jaehyun. I might just be imagining all of this.”

“It’s not a dream, it’s real.” Jaehyun sighed. Doyoung frowned.

“I really want to believe you.”

“You should.” Jaehyun said, his hand coming up to cup Doyoung’s cheek. “I swear, on my life, you’ll get home.”

“Okay,” Doyoung said quietly.

Jaehyun’s eyes flicked down to Doyoung’s lips before they slid shut and he leaned forward. Doyoung’s heartbeat quickened as he copied Jaehyun’s actions. Doyoung could feel the barest touch of his lips when he was suddenly ripped away.

“Doyoung, wake up.”

“Why isn’t he waking up?”

“Doyoung!” Doyoung’s eyes flew open and suddenly he was back. The concrete pressed against his back uncomfortably in the darkness.

“Taeyoung, lights.” Doyoung heard a snapping sound and suddenly the basement was awash with a yellow glow. Doyoung squinted at the shapes above him.

“Taeyong? Taeil?” His eyes widened before he shot up, scrambling away from the duo. “Get away from me!”

Taeil looked at him sadly, “Doyoung, we’re sorry—”

“No, leave!”

Yuta snorted, “you caused this.”

“I don’t want to hear it Nakamoto.” Taeyong hissed, glaring at the wolf. Yuta smirked in response, the grin looking unnatural on his gaunt face. “We’re trying to apologize to our friend.”

“Friend?” Doyoung said hesitantly.

“You’re not friends Doyoung. What kind of friends would do that kind of thing?” Yuta hissed.

“Shut up!” Taeyong said, waving his hand and suddenly Yuta was silent. “That’s better.”

“Doyoung, just listen to us. I swear, we didn’t mean to hurt you.” Taeil said kindly.

“Well you did.” Doyoung muttered.

“We’re sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Especially not you.” Taeil continued.

“Then why did you?” Doyoung asked.

“I had to. Mother came home early, she couldn’t find out what we were planning. I was going to confess everything to you once I realized you figured it out, but I couldn’t once she stepped in the house. We panicked, that’s why we did it. I never wanted you to find anything out. As soon as humans realize what’s going on in San Marco, it’s only a matter of time until they’re discovered and hurt.”

“Why does your mom have so much power over you two?”

Taeyong and Taeil looked at each other. “We have to obey. Taeyong is indebted to my family and me? I have to obey my parents. They’re the leaders of the Moon Coven, all those who belong to it have to obey everything the leaders say.”

“If your mom asked you to kill me, would you do it?”

There was silence, then, Taeyong spoke up. “Yes.” Doyoung felt his stomach churn and he refused to look at them. “But we have a way to get out.”

“How?” Doyoung asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“There’s a ritual,” Taeil said. “But we need you and Yuta to do it.” From next to Doyoung, the said werewolf shook his head frantically. “It’s nothing bad.”

“What is it?”

“We need to get out of the coven, but the only way to do that is if Taeil gives up his heritage and I am no longer indebted to his family.”

“And how are you supposed to do that?”

“If Taeyong is no longer a witch and just a human he’s out. If I could become another creature, like a were, I’m out. This ritual can do that, we just need your guys’ blood to do so.” Yuta struggled even more from next to Doyoung.

“Let him speak,” Doyoung said, glaring at Taeyong.

Taeyong scowled but snapped again and Yuta let out a groan. “Are you guys fucking kidding us? You know that ritual is dangerous. We’re never meant to change species.” Yuta growled.

“But it could work,” Taeil said, “please, just give us this chance.”

“Why should we?” Yuta laughed bitterly, “it’s not like you’ve ever done anything for us.”

“Yuta, I love Johnny.” Taeil said, “but we can’t be together, not like this. There’s too many political consequences if I was Johnny’s mate and a member of the coven. So I need to leave.”

“Please Yuta, help us.” Taeyong said quietly. Yuta faltered for a moment, briefly exchanging eye contact with Taeyong before they both looked away.

Yuta sighed. “It’s up to Doyoung,” he mumbled.

Doyoung looked up, lost in thought. “Oh?”

“Well Doyoung, will you help us?” Taeil asked.

“What did you do to my brother?” Doyoung said suddenly.

Taeil furrowed his brows in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“I found a bottle, with my brother’s name on it.” Doyoung said angrily. “What did you do to him?!”

“Nothing. He volunteered.” Taeyong said calmly.

“Impossible.” Doyoung hissed.

“Completely possible.” Taeyong said. “Jeno and Jisung, they’re like me.”

“You—you contaminated them?!”

Taeyong raised an eyebrow. “Contaminated? They were completely willing. In fact, they were the ones who asked that they become my apprentices.”

“How long as Jeno known? About all of this?”

“Jeno? Jeno’s known for years.” Taeyong said. “We don’t know who told him, or how he found out, he’s just always known.”

Doyoung felt his stomach drop. “He has?”

Taeil nodded sympathetically. “I don’t know what to tell you. That kid has always been smarter than he looked.”

“He never told you?”

Taeil and Taeyong looked at each other nervously. “He wanted to, but we kept warning him not to. Knowledge brings danger.”

“Oh.” Doyoung said quietly, trying to take in this new information. “Well why do you have his blood?”

“For the ritual.” Taeyong said. “We needed human blood, and the only humans in San Marco is your family. But Jeno’s blood didn’t work, it had already been diluted by his magic practices. So we need you.”

Doyoung swallowed hard.

“Please Doyoung?” Taeil said, “for us?”

Doyoung ignored the voices screaming in his head telling him that this was a bad idea. “Okay.”

Taeil and Taeyong smiled at him gleefully and for a brief second, it was like everything was normal again. Like they were driving down the highway, singing their hearts out without a care in the world. “Well this is an adorable show of the power of friendship, but there’s still one problem.” Yuta said wryly. “This.” He lifted up his cuffed wrist, wincing when the silver hit his skin.

“Yeah,” Taeil said slowly, “we’re still working on that part.”

“I can free you two, and I can remove the silver from the door. But there’s still an entire coven of vampires up there, and once they realize what we’re doing they’re going to come after us.” Taeyong frowned.

“Well, I might have a solution.” Doyoung said hesitantly.

The three supernaturals looked at him. “What is it?”

“Uh, is there any chance that you guys can talk to each other in dreams?”

“What?” Taeyong said, “well yeah, but only if you’re—”

Taeil shoved Taeyong’s shoulder. “Wait did you dream about someone? Was it Jaehyun?” Taeil said, his voice gaining a teasing tone.

For some reason, Doyoung’s cheeks turned red and he looked down at the concrete. “Yeah.”

“Oh my god, I forgot.” Yuta said, leaning his head back to smack against the hard wall. “They’re—”

“Shush!” Taeil said gleefully, “it’s not our place to tell. He’ll learn, all in due time.”

Doyoung eyed the trio suspiciously. “Yeah. Anyways, I told Jaehyun where we were hidden. He’s coming, he promised that he would come break us out.”

“When?” Taeyong asked.

“I don’t know, he didn’t say he just—”

Suddenly, Taeil jerked his head towards the door.  _ “Shit,  _ I think I hear Jungwoo and Sicheng. They’re coming down to feed soon.”

Taeyong looked at Yuta, and for a fraction of a second Doyoung could see worry in his eyes. “If they feed from him again he may never wake up.”

“Jaehyun better be coming,  _ now.”  _ Taeil said, his gaze hard. “Because we’re about to run out of time.”

“I don’t know—” Doyoung said frantically but he was interrupted by Taeyong’s hands glowing, and suddenly the shackles on Yuta flew off.

Taeyong’s brows furrowed and sweat appeared on his brow as he muttered something under his breath. His face turned pale as Yuta’s gained color, the wolf slowly being revived.

Taeil kept glancing at the door. “They’re about to open that door any second now, hurry Taeyong!” Taeil panicked.

“I’m doing this as fast as I can,” Taeyong grunted, “this just takes a lot of energy.”

Even Doyoung could hear two voices approaching the door now as Taeyong cried out victoriously, Yuta quickly jumping to his feet. “I’m back!” Yuta cheered, stretching his arms. “Thanks, Taeyong.” He said quietly, turning to the witch.

Taeyong ignored the wolf as he ran up the stairs, hands glowing again. There was a ripping sound and Doyoung saw the nails ripping out of the doorframe, landing in a pile at Taeyong’s feet with soft clinks. “No more silver,” Taeyong muttered.

“They’re about to open the door,” Taeil hissed, pushing Doyoung behind him. “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit,” Four pairs of eyes watched the doorknob slowly twist and—

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from above and yells filled the house. Doyoung heard steps sprinting away from the basement door, towards the sounds. Yuta immediately perked up, sniffing the air. “My pack!”

“Oh thank god,” Taeil breathed out in relief. “Johnny, he’s here too.”

“They’ve just attacked the house, they’re coming for us!” Taeyong said, waving his hands to lead the other three up the steps. “Let’s go!”

Yuta ran up the steps, pushing open the door and he and Taeyong stepped out, brief snippets of crashing sounds flitting into the basement.

“C’mon,” Taeil said, from the top step. “Doyoung, Jaehyun is here for you.” He nodded before following the other two, the door slamming behind him.

Doyoung ran up the steps as fast as he could, pausing at the door. “Okay, okay,” he breathed out, before wrapping his hand around the doorknob and opening it up to the chaos outside. “I’m coming.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's all about to happen


	11. XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos surrounds Doyoung and his friends, and in the midst of it all, someone is baking macaroons.

Doyoung wasn’t sure what was happening. All around him people were yelling and jumping at each other. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the back of Taeil’s shirt and Doyoung sprinted after him, ducking to avoid a body flying over his head. “Oh fuck,” the body groaned, and Doyoung turned to see his brother’s classmate, Jaemin, struggle to get back on his feet.

“Are you okay?” Doyoung grabbed Jaemin’s hand and pulled him up.

“Yeah,” Jaemin panted, “oh fuck, you’re Doyoung!”

“Uh—” Doyoung was cut off by Jaemin narrowing his eyes and flinging his body at someone behind Doyoung, materializing into a slim golden wolf in midair, the cracking noise filling Doyoung’s ears. Doyoung didn’t turn to see who Jaemin was attacking before he ran off in the direction he last saw Taeil.

“Taeil? Taeyong? Yuta?” Doyoung called, navigating his way through the dim hallways. He turned a corner when suddenly the breath was pushed out of his lungs, his back slamming against the wall as a body trapped him against it. “S-Sicheng?” Doyoung stuttered.

The usually bored restaurant maître d’ smiled sadly at him, his eyes glowing bright red, “Doyoung,” he said kindly, “I’m sorry you’re stuck in this situation.”

Doyoung struggled from beneath the vampire as Sicheng breathed in deeply. “Sicheng, you don’t want to do this,” Doyoung said nervously.

“You’re right, I don’t.” Sicheng said sympathetically. “But I didn’t get to feed on Yuta and I’m just, so _hungry.”_

Doyoung squeezed his eyes shut when the body was ripped off of him, a loud snarl filling the air. “I’ll fucking kill you!” Jaehyun yelled, and Sicheng gulped before his eyes turned back to normal and he ran away from the raging werewolf. “Don’t you ever touch my mate again!”

Jaehyun turned to Doyoung, who was breathing heavily against the wall. “Jaehyun, you’re—”

Before Doyoung could say another word Jaehyun’s hands gripped the sides of his waist, pushing them together as their lips finally met. Doyoung’s eyes flew open in shock as Jaehyun moved their mouths against each other and backed him against the wall again, the thud causing Doyoung to squeal into Jaehyun’s mouth, allowing the other to snake his tongue against Doyoung’s. His eyes fluttered shut right as he realizes that Jaehyun tasted like honey, his hands slowly coming up to wind his fingers through Jaehyun’s hair. The wolf growled, pressing even closer as sparks ran through Doyoung’s body, originating from wherever the two made contact.

“Ew. Are you guys fucking kidding me?” They ripped apart, Jaehyun’s eyes glowing a dark amber as he panted. Yuta continued, making a sound of disgust. “There’s a literal battle going on out there and you two are making out? C’mon! We gotta escape!” Yuta said before running down the hallway he came from.

Jaehyun’s eyes filled with panic as he gripped Doyoung’s hand, dragging the other down the hallway.

“Wait what did you say earlier?!” Doyoung yelled over the sounds of the fighting, “we’re what?!”

Jaehyun turned around for a split section, his eyes frantic. “I’ll explain later!” He cried, ducking to avoid a lamp being thrown over their heads. Jaehyun squeezed his eyes shut, his hand that didn’t have Doyoung’s in a death grip flying to his temple. “Yuta said they’re in the kitchen. That’s where the nearest exit is.”

“It’s that way!” Doyoung yelled, sprinting up besides Jaehyun until he was the one dragging the other along. Jaehyun grinned.

“That’s my boy, right there.” He called teasingly as Doyoung intertwined their fingers even further, sparks and adrenaline flying further through his body.

They burst into the kitchen, a sudden calm washing over them. The sounds of the battle outside were muffled as the door swung shut behind them, as if nothing was amiss, nothing other than the terrified expressions on his friends’ faces. On one side of the island counter sat Taeyong and Taeil, the former looking pale and weak as sweat appeared on his brow, his knuckles gripping the table so hard they turned white. Taeil sat next to Taeyong, looking equally as exhausted, but maintaining perfect posture despite every fiber of his body looking like it was fighting it. In the far corner of the kitchen, Yuta and Johnny were snarling, but held back by Sicheng and Jungwoo, who held onto silver chains that wrapped around their bodies, causing red burn marks to appear on their skin. On the other side of the island counter, an oven timer dinged and a woman casually pulled a tray of macaroons out of them oven, setting them down on the counter to cool. “Jaehyun, Doyoung, so nice of you to join us.” Mrs. Moon’s soft voice said as she turned around to pour herself a glass of dark red liquid from a wine bottle on the counter. “Would you like a macaroon?”

 

“Of course, you’ll have to wait for them to cool.”

Jaehyun snapped out of his shock, growl filling the air as he jumped at Mrs. Moon.

“Taeyong,” she calmly said, as if a snarling werewolf wasn’t about to claw her face off, “make him stop.”

Taeyong winced, his hands shaking, but nonetheless he waved his hand, Jaehyun flying towards the wall where Jungwoo quickly grabbed him, wrapping the rest of the chain around his body.

“No!” Doyoung cried out as Jaehyun’s pained groans filled the room. “Taeyong, why did you—”

“He has to listen to me.” Mrs. Moon said, “now come, sit down and have a macaroon Doyoung. You don’t want to end up like everyone else.”

Doyoung eyed her suspiciously, slowly walking up to stand next to the counter. He placed his hand on Taeil’s shoulder but the vampire did nothing in response, just simply stared forward. “What did you do to them?” He asked, horrified.

“I am their leader. They have to listen to me. I really didn’t want it to go that extreme, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.” She said, smiling. “Now Doyoung, we can all make this easily go away if you do the same.”

“Listen to you?” Doyoung asked, eyes raised suspiciously. “Why should I?”

“Oh I understand completely,” Mrs. Moon said, sugar dripping saccharinely from her words, “I’m usually not like this. I’m typically a very benevolent leader, I like giving them free will and whatnot. But this was necessary.”

“Forcing your son and his best friend to obey your every whim?”

“Taeyong knew what he was getting into when he made our deal. And Taeil? Well a mother always knows best.” She said and reached across the table to brush a strand of hair out of Taeil’s eyes. Taeil just barely flinched and Doyoung watched his mother’s eyes flash cold.

“Why are you doing this?” Doyoung asked as Mrs. Moon laughed softly.

“Why? You would never be able to understand Doyoung. You’re not a mother. Johnny started something bigger than he will ever realize when he took away my son, without my permission.” She sighed, “so you have to see, I want my son to be happy. I really do.”

“You clearly don’t. You’re keeping him from the person he loves!”

“For his own good!” Mrs. Moon slammed her hand against the counter. “You don’t understand, and you never will. You’re just a human! Werewolves and vampires were never meant to be together. It’s unnatural. Their union could bring down the fragile peace we already have. I have to destroy their mating bond, and if it means killing Johnny in the process, then so be it.”

“Peace is already gone.” Doyoung said. “I might just be a human, but I have eyes too. Look around, is this what you call peace?” He asked, gesturing to where Jaehyun and the others were tied up, hissing in pain. “Let us go, we can save your peace. We’ll stop this entire problem.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Mrs. Moon laughed condescendingly. “They can never be together. And I will do whatever I need to do to maintain the best for my son.”

“Well what if there was no problem at all?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if,” Doyoung said hesitantly, “what if Taeil was no longer a vampire?”

Mrs. Moon’s eyes widened, “no, you can’t do that! That would undo everything!”

“We can, and we will.” Doyoung said, his hand curling around the edge of the countertop as he stepped closer to Mrs. Moon.

She glared back, “I won’t let you.” She spat out. “Sicheng, Jungwoo,” She turned to the vampires, “kill them!” Suddenly they tightened the chains and Doyoung saw red as Jaehyun’s whines of pain filled the room. Mrs. Moon lashed out, grabbed into Doyoung, her teeth bared and about to sink into Doyoung’s shoulder when Doyoung’s fingers wrapped around the edge of the now cooled tray of macaroons.

Cookies flew through the air along with a loud metallic ringing as Doyoung slammed the heavy tray against Mrs. Moon’s head, sending her crashing to the ground. Doyoung yelped as the matriarch struggled to keep her eyes open before they finally flit shut and she lay motionless on the ground. Immediately, Taeyong and Taeil snapped out of it, standing up frantically. “Oh my god, Taeil your mom, did I—did I kill her?!”

“She’s fine for now, just knocked out.” Taeil said whipping around to face Sicheng and Jungwoo, Taeyong’s hands already glowing bright green. But the chains were already falling to the ground, Sicheng and Jungwoo’s hands empty.

“Go,” Sicheng said, “she’ll be out for a little while but not long.” He nodded at Jungwoo, who was helping Johnny to his feet.

“Probably 15 minutes, maybe half an hour if you’re lucky,” Jungwoo said softly. “Next time you see us, we’ll be under her control again. So leave now before she wakes up.”

“W-what?” Johnny sputtered, “what’s going on? I thought—aren’t they—Taeil, aren’t they evil?”

Taeil rolled his eyes, shoving Johnny out of the door. “Things aren’t really what they seem at the Moon’s. Thank you Sicheng, Jungwoo. I’ll make it up to you one day.”

Sicheng nodded. “We’ll hold you to that.” All three of the vampires’ eyes momentarily shone red. “We’ll get the other vampires to stop attacking, but only for a moment. It should be long enough for your pack to escape.”

Johnny nodded from outside the door, “I’ll call them off.”

“Let’s hurry!” Taeyong said, glaring at Yuta who yelped and ran out the door.

“Thank you,” Doyoung said, “and I’m sorry that I knocked out Mrs. Moon.”

Jungwoo rolled his eyes. “The bitch will be fine, just go off with your mate.”

Doyoung’s heart raced at that word and he gulped. “Right.” He turned towards Jaehyun, extending his hand. “You ready?”

Jaehyun wrapped their fingers together, “let’s get out of here.” He said, and smiled before they both ran out of the door, into the dark woods awaiting them.

  



	12. XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all, some rituals were never meant to be performed.

The woods were dark, and Doyoung could barely see two feet in front of him. However, Jaehyun expertly maneuvered through the trees, making sure Doyoung didn’t trip or fall on his face. That would be slightly embarrassing. “J-Jaehyun,” Doyoung panted, “slow down.”

Jaehyun didn’t even turn, “we have to keep running. Who knows how long it’ll take until they catch us.” His brows furrowed, looking around the trees. “Where are we even going anyways? I’ve just been following Johnny’s scent.”

“Wherever they need to go to start the ritual.”

Jaehyun turned to look at Doyoung curiously. “What ritual?”

“Uh,” Doyoung started, “I don’t know what it is exactly, but they need Yuta and I’s blood so they can transform—”

Jaehyun’s eyes widened. “They’re doing  _ that _ ritual?” He shook his head. “It’s really dangerous Doyoung, I don’t know how I feel about you doing this.”

Doyoung frowned. “But they need me.”

“So do I. I can’t risk losing you.” Jaehyun stopped in the trees, turning to plead with Doyoung.

“It’s my decision.”

“I should have a say in it too.”

Doyoung’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“We’re mates, afterall.” Doyoung scowled at that word.

“Honestly Jaehyun, I’m not fully certain of what that even means.” He said, shoving past the wolf to march further into the woods.

“Well it’s like we complete one another,” Jaehyun said, running to catch up with Doyoung. “It’s destiny, you can’t fight destiny.” 

“I can when destiny is being an ass.” Doyoung glared at Jaehyun, “listen, this ritual is the only way my friends can be happy again. I’ll take the risk for them.”

Jaehyun sighed, “I don’t like fighting with you Doyoung.”

“I don’t like being controlled.”

Jaehyun laughed under his breath, “I know. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

“Love?” Doyoung raised an eyebrow, pausing before he whipped around, jabbing his finger into Jaehyun’s chest. “Listen Jaehyun,” Doyoung ignored the sparks running up and down his body at the touch, “I think it’s dumb to deny this, uh,  _ thing _ we have—”

“Exactly so—”

Doyoung cut Jaehyun off, “and I know we’re mates. If you give me time, I can comprehend that. But I don’t like the idea of being, I don’t know, forced together.”

“But it’s not being forced together! It’s destiny!” Jaehyun said, pouting.

“No, if we’re going to be in a relationship it’s not going to be like that. Jaehyun, right now I don’t look at you and think ‘oh that’s the man I’m in love with, one day I’m going to live in a little beach house with him and our twenty kids.’ That’s too much.” Doyoung said. 

“But  _ I  _ think that.”

“And that’s fine, but I don’t. Jaehyun, I can be your mate,” Doyoung said, looking down and blushing slightly, “but just give me time. Our relationship is going to form naturally, at our own pace.”

“Okay,” Jaehyun said, and reached out, clasping Doyoung’s hand in his own. “I can do that, I can wait.”

Doyoung looked into Jaehyun’s hopeful amber eyes. “I’ll get there, eventually.”

Jaehyun smiled, leaning forward to place a small peck on Doyoung’s forehead. “I know you will.”

That was the thing, Doyoung thought as he and Jaehyun walked deeper and deeper into the woods, Kim Doyoung was a very logical man. All of this supernatural stuff, that was the exact opposite of logical. On top of that, throw a predestined relationship at him and everything had Doyoung just wishing for the world to slow down, for just a second, to let him process everything. 

But, as Doyoung soon realized as they finally stepped into a clearing lit by a ring of candles and surrounded by his friends, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

 

“Doyoung!” Doyoung’s arms were forced open as Jeno flung his body between them. “I was so worried about you.”

Doyoung wrapped his arms around his brother tightly. “Jeno, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Jeno smiled sheepishly, “yeah, I know. But I wanted to tell you everything from the beginning! I even hid that book so—”

“Jeno?” Taeyong called and Doyoung’s brother glanced up at the witch. “Everyone’s here, let’s begin.”

Jeno frowned and nodded. “Come with me,” Jeno said quietly, grabbing Doyoung’s hand and leading him to the center of the ring. Doyoung’s other hand slipped out of Jaehyun’s grasp and Doyoung watched as he went to stand by Johnny, watching Doyoung nervously as he joined Taeil, Yuta, and Taeyong.

“Okay,” Taeyong said, looking at Jeno and Jisung, “do you remember what I told you to do?” They both nodded.

“Wait, why are they here? Isn’t this dangerous?” Yuta asked.

“Someone has to hold the ritual, and it can’t be me since I’ll be in it.” Taeyong said, “it should be a full witch, but honestly, we don’t have any others around here so I’m hoping if we use two apprentices then we can generate the same power.”

“What do we need to do?” Doyoung asked. 

Taeyong frowned, “Jisung,” He said, holding out his hand. The younger fumbled in his pockets for a second before pulling out a long ornate knife. It shone in the moonlight and almost emitted a silvery glow, but Doyoung thought that might’ve just been his imagination. Jaehyun hissed in the background.

“What is it?” He called over the clearing.

“Onyx,” Taeyong said. “It’s typically the knife we use in blood rituals.”

“Hold out your hands,” Jeno said and Doyoung and Yuta extended their palms. “You too,” Jeno prompted and Taeyong and Taeil followed suit.

Jisung muttered under his breath and the candles around them grew brighter and spots of light appeared in Doyoung’s vision. “He’s going to cut your palms now,” Jisung said.

Jeno held Doyoung’s hand, slashing across it. He winced at the sight of the dark red blood forming in the wound and averted his eyes. Taeyong, with the same cut across his own palm, placed his on top of Doyoung’s hands.

“Our health teacher would not like this,” Doyoung said quietly as Taeil and Yuta did the same.

“Well our health teacher was a vampire.” Taeyong said and cracked a smile.

Jisung’s words got louder and Doyoung could hear the unfamiliar words enveloping him as his palms grew warm. Taeyong tightened their grip as the heat grew almost unbearable and Doyoung had to stop himself from crying out. Taeyong glanced at something behind Doyoung, his brows furrowing with concern.

Jeno blinked, his eyes flashing between normal and bright blue and the flames from the candles around them turned the same hue, growing in size until it felt like they were surrounded by a wall of flame.

Doyoung felt his body race with panic and he turned to Taeyong, yelling over the sound of the fire. “What’s happening?!”

Taeyong looked at him, the same bright blue hue in his eyes and didn’t respond. Doyoung turned to Taeil and Yuta and saw both of them locked in a trance, their eyes blue as the flames around them.

Doyoung blinked.

Suddenly, it was silent around him, like a vacuum without sound. “You can open your eyes now,” Doyoung heard.

He did so, only to be greeted with the scene of the beach, but minus the sound. Taeyong was in front of him, the only sign that he wasn’t deaf being the faint sounds of Taeyong breathing deeply.

The water lapped at Doyoung’s feet, but it was odd without the accompanying sound of seagulls overhead and waves crashing against the sand. “Where are we?”

Taeyong frowned. “It’s hard to explain, kind of another dimension, but it’s where the transfer needs to happen.” 

“How do I do that?”

“Just let go,” Taeyong said, their hands still clasped together. “You need to relax.”

Doyoung frowned before letting out a deep breath, “I’m trying.”

Taeyong’s brows furrowed, “I know, just, just let me, this is complicated okay.”

Doyoung sighed again when he suddenly felt it. A spark seemed to alight within his chest, and he could feel it being pulled through his body towards Taeyong.

“There we go,” Taeyong said and smiled. 

Doyoung squeezed his eyes together, trying to just concentrate on Taeyong but there was this annoying seagull in the background—

Doyoung’s eyes flew open. Seagull? He glanced away from Taeyong, his eyes widening and he shook Taeyong’s shoulders. “Taeyong!”

“Wait Doyoung, I’m trying to concentrate—”

“Look!”

“Well, that’s bad.”

“What do we do?!”

“Run!” Taeyong yelled as the ocean retreated quickly, the beach growing as a large mass in the distance seemed to approach them at the speed of light. 

Doyoung had lived in a beach town for a long time. He could list off the warning signs that were present before him, but he’d never experienced one in real life before. He’d neer seen a tsunami before.

The silence was broken by the sound of wind whipping around them as Taeyong dragged Doyoung away from the beach. He turned around briefly, witnessing a giant wall of water right behind them. “What’s happening?!” Doyoung yelled.

“I don’t know! I think they messed up the ritual!” Taeyong yelled back, his voice full of panic.

The water was dark, a swirling mass that grew every time Doyoung looked back. And it was cold too, Doyong discovered.

“Taey—” Doyoung’s cries were swept away as the water crashed down around him, and they were ripped apart. The last thing he saw before everything around him was cold, wet, and dark was Taeyong’s frantic eyes staring back at him, glowing bright blue.

 

He woke up with a start.

His hands were ripped away from Taeyoung’s tight grasp as arms enveloped him. “Are you okay?!”

Doyoung nodded numbly in Jaehyun’s arms, his eyes fixed on Taeyong, who was being held up by Jeno and Jisung and mumbling weakly. “What was that?” He asked.

“The ritual didn’t go well.” Taeil said heavily. “You guys were under for a long time.”

“Are you two okay?” Doyoung asked, turning towards Taeil, who was standing next to Johnny, their hands hesitantly intertwined.

Taeil nodded.

“I’m fine too,” Yuta said, “just a little dizzy.” His eyes were set on Taeyong, concern plastered on his face. “What’s wrong with him?”

“We don’t know,” Jeno said frantically. Jisung had let Taeyong rest on the ground and was waving his hands over his body.

“It’s weird,” Jisung said, “he’s not a witch anymore, but he’s not fully human either.”

“Well what is he?” Jeno said frantically, “dammit! We shouldn’t have done this. I knew we’d mess it up!” He angrily kicked the ground.

“You did your best,” Taeyong groaned, “god, this fucking hurts.”

“His body is fighting within itself,” Jisung frowned, “it’s not going to stop until one side dominates the other.”

“Then what happens?” Doyoung asked

“Nothing,” Jisung said. “I don’t think anyone could survive that.”

Doyoung felt a chill go through his body and Taeil let out a cry. “Is there anything we can do?!” He said, running over to his best friend. Doyoung wanted to follow, but as soon as he tried to take a step, he almost fell over and Jaehyun quickly pulled him back to his feet.

“I think we can,” Yuta said quietly, “but I don’t know if it’ll work.”

“What do you think we should do?” Jeno asked angrily.

“There are two ways to make a werewolf. You’re born one, or you’re bitten.”

Johnny frowned, “Yuta, I don’t think you should do that.”

“No!” Yuta snapped, “it could be the only chance to save him.”

“You,” Jisung said, confused, “you want to bite Taeyong?”

“You said he was battling between being a witch and a human right?” Jisung nodded. “Well when someone is bitten by a wolf, they go through the same fight.”

Jaehyun’s eyes widened, “that might work actually.”

“And the wolf always wins!” Yuta said, “and then once the wolf is in charge, our accelerated healing helps the person survive the transformation.”

“There’s one problem though,” Johnny frowned, “if someone is a bitten werewolf, they’re forever bound to the person that bit them.”

“Oh,” Yuta faltered, “you’re right.”

Jeno and Jisung sighed, looking at Taeyong. “But I don’t know what else we can do.”

“I’ll do it,” Taeyong said weakly, surprising everyone. “Yuta can bite me.”

“But, you’ll be connected to me forever—”

“I’m not stupid,” Taeyong said coldly, “I want to stay alive, and if this is the only way possible, so be it.”

“Oh,” Yuta said. “Yeah, of course.”

It wasn’t as formal as Doyoung expected. Jaehyun lifted his hand to cover Doyoung’s eyes but he peaked through his fingers to see Yuta lean down, unceremoniously sinking his teeth into Taeyong’s shoulder. It was all done very fast, actually.

But there was something different in the air. Maybe it was the moon, that seemed to shine brighter, or the sounds of the night that grew louder. Or maybe it was just the darkness, that seemed to press against Doyoung even harder. 

Amidst the night, Taeyong blinked with a start and stood up, facing the world not as a witch, or a human, but a werewolf. “Let’s go.”

His eyes shone amber in the night.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys did u know this fic is 75% done


	13. XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung needs a break, and surprise surprise, he's offered one.

The mood was very different as they walked away from the clearing. Doyoung was still feeling very weak and tired, and Jaehyun offered his shoulder during the trek to the pack house for support, both emotionally and physically.

“Are you okay?” Jaehyun asked, concern in his eyes.

Doyoung yawned, “yeah. Just, kinda exhausted really.”

Behind him, Yuta and Taeyong walked side-by-side, the tension and awkward silence between them as thick as butter. Doyoung shivered and tried to get his worn out body to move a little faster.

Ahead of him, Johnny and Taeil walked, also next to each other, but whispering excitedly to each other, their sides pressed together.

“What’s going to happen to them?” Doyoung whispered.

“Who?” Jaehyun answered, glancing around.

“I don’t know, everyone I guess.”

“Taeyong and Taeil, they have no choice but to join the pack now.” Jaehyun looked at Johnny, who fondly looked down at Taeil as the other leaned his head against his shoulder. “But I think that was part of Taeil’s original plan anyways.”

“Are they going to get married? Make a family?” Doyoung asked curiously.

“Yeah, sure. That’s what mates do.”

Doyoung walked in silence next to Jaehyun before speaking up again. “And what about Taeyong? And I guess Yuta?”

Jaehyun sighed, glancing back at the silent pair. “That’s up for them to decide.”

 

Doyoung didn’t really remember the entire walk back to the Seo property, but he did remember waking up in a soft bed. The unfamiliar walls were covered in photos of people, people Doyoung now recognized as members of the pack. He smiled softly at a photo of young Jaehyun covered in mud before wandering downstairs to the noise of people chatting.

A large kitchen opened up before him and Doyoung peeked his head inside to see Johnny standing behind the stove, frying up some eggs as a crowd of people surrounded him, grabbing random bits of food from the table.

“Hey,” Doyoung looked up to see Jaehyun standing there, handing him a plate. “You woke up in time for breakfast.”

Doyoung yawned, “I should really be getting home,” he said, trailing off when he saw Jaehyun’s pout.

“Stay for just a little? Your brother is having a fun time,” Jaehyun said and pointed to where Jeno was making a glass full of orange juice float in the air, threatening to pour it on Na Jaemin and Renjun’s heads.

“Why is Renjun here?”

“Fae are neutral so I asked him to bring your car back from the Moon’s house.”

Doyoung’s brows furrowed. “But, but how’d he get in and start the car? He doesn’t have the keys, they were in my pocket.”

Jaehyun shrugged. “I don’t know and honestly, I wouldn’t ask.”

Doyoung watched as Mark Lee walked behind Jeno, a bagel in his mouth, accidentally bumping into the other. Jeno’s concentration broke causing the orange juice to come spilling down but before it could soak Jaemin and Renjun, Renjun yelped and the mess turned into flower petals, landing gently on their heads. “Weird.” Doyoung gulped.

Jaehyun shoveled some pancake in his mouth. “You’ll get used to it. Now c’mon, let me introduce you to everyone.” He grabbed Doyoung’s arm, yanking him away from the doorway he was hiding behind. “Everyone, this Kim Doyoung.” Jaehyun smiled angelically as the crowd turned to lay their eyes on him.

The bagel fell out of Mark’s mouth. “Holy shit, that’s your mate.”

Doyoung’s lips pursed into a tight smile. “Sure.”

“Shut up Mark, you made him uncomfortable,” a boy with dyed orange hair smacked Mark’s chest. “I’m Lee Donghyuck.”

“Mark Lee,” Mark said, picking up his bagel sadly.

“Hey Doie, I see you finally found your man,” Ten said lazily, his arms wrapped around Kun as they sat at the breakfast counter.

“Morning Doyoung,” Kun smiled.

“I’m Na Jaemin,” the boy grinned, sipping from his black coffee.

“Liu Yangyang,” one of the boys grinned, “I’m new too so don’t worry. They don’t bite, but Jaehyun might.” He smirked evilly.

The boy standing next to him burst out into laughter, “I’m Zhong Chenle.”

“And you already know Johnny, Yuta, and Yukhei,” Jaehyun said, putting a slice of toast onto Doyoung’s plate.

“I don’t like toast,” Doyoung said and grabbed an apple. “Where’s Taeil and Taeyong?”

“Still resting,” Johnny said, “they’re probably going to be out of it for the next few days.”

“Well now that you know everyone, you can stay for breakfast!” Jaehyun grinned, pulling out a chair for him.

Doyoung smiled weakly in return. “I guess so.”

 

“So,” Doyoung said, interrupting the silence in his car. “They’re nice.”

Jeno nodded, looking out the window. “Most of them are.”

“Hm,” Doyoung said. It was quiet again for a few seconds before he spoke up again. “Care to explain anything?”

Jeno turned his head, looking at his brother. “Are you feeling okay?”

Doyoung frowned, “yeah, I’m fine now.”

“Okay good, because I was worried.” Jeno said quietly, “all this witch stuff, it’s a lot.”

“I’ve gathered.”

They drove another block before Jeno spoke again. “You know that book?”

“The book you tricked me into finding that started this all? Yes.”

Jeno winced, “yeah probably shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s fine, I think,” Doyoung paused, trying to figure out how to word his thoughts. “It sort of worked out in the end.”

“I’m sorry,” Jeno sighed, “I dragged you into this.”

“No,” Doyoung said, looking at his brother with concern, “I would have figured it out eventually.”

Jeno shrugged, staring ahead at the road. “Do you know why we moved to San Marco?”

“Family stuff, I don’t know.”

Jeno paused, “you know that dude who wrote the book? Only used his initials like a weirdo?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“He was our like great-great-grandfather or something,” Jeno said casually, ignoring his brother’s raised eyebrow. “Ya know, I found the book first.”

“What?”

“It was in the attic, when mom and dad had me go up there to put my lacrosse stuff away for the season.” Jeno said, “it was just sitting in a corner.”

“We’re related to witches?” Doyoung said, his eyebrows flying up.

“Did you know mom and dad don’t even know why we moved out here? They told us some dumb excuse that kind of turned out to be true.”

“Then why did we come out here?”

“It was just a weird gut feeling. I think,” Jeno paused, “I think this place was calling to us.”

“Now you’re just insane.”

“Am I?” Jeno asked, his brow raising, “I can shoot green sparks out of my hands. Your boyfriend can turn into a wolf.”

“W-we’re not dating.” Doyoung stuttered.

Jeno hid a secret smile, “okay. Your not-boyfriend can turn into a wolf.”

Doyoung scowled at his brother, and they drove the rest of the way home in silence.

 

**[JAEHYUN]: meet us @huangs**

Doyoung had been dreading the meeting ever since he got the text. The last few days in the town had been tense. Everyone walked around like they were on edge, as if someone was about to attack at any moment. In retrospect, a meeting like this was far overdue.

_“She said she wants to negotiate.”_

_“Why should we?”_

_“It’s honestly up to Taeil, and Taeil said yes.”_

That conversation happened a week ago, the anticipation building inside Doyoung until it finally came to a peak inside the small diner.

The soft jingle of the bell as the door opened was immediately followed by a wash of silence as everyone in the diner turned to face the newcomers. Mrs. Moon, followed by Sicheng and Jungwoo, seemed out of place amid the worn-out walls and old coffee stains.

“Welcome to Huang’s,” Renjun said, seeming a little less bored than he was five seconds ago. “Can I interest you in some pancakes?”

Mrs. Moon smiled tightly. “No, we’re just here to chat.” She frowned, walking over to the table where Johnny, Taeil and Taeyong sat and sitting down at the empty seat. Doyoung bounced his leg nervously in a nearby booth and Jaehyun rested his hand comfortingly on his knee.

“You look nice today,” Johnny said sarcastically, the vampires jutting out in their formal-business wear amid the old diner.

“We just came from Moon’s,” Mrs. Moon said, eyeing the way Johnny leaned back casually in his seat critically, one arm flung around the back of Taeil’s chair. They certainly looked like an odd group, Johnny’s hawaiian shirt, pastel board shorts and Birkenstocks juxtaposing her pantsuit.

“Enough smalltalk, let’s get down to business.” Johnny said, leaning forward. “I think we made it pretty clear what we want.”

“And I think I made it pretty clear that I disagree,” she said icily.

“Listen, Moonie, can I call you that?”

“No.”

“Anyways, Moonie, I thought we made it pretty clear that what you want is _not_ happening. Or do you want Doyoung to knock it back into your head again?” Johnny lazily smiled.

Doyoung waved awkwardly.

Mrs. Moon grit her teeth, “you still have to respect my rights as a parent.”

“You have to respect my rights as a person,” Taeil frowned.

“Yeah baby,” Johnny said and smiled softly at Taeil, “what he said.”

Mrs. Moon scowled before she eyed Taeyong, “you really gave up the gift we gave you, and for what? Being a mutt?” She ignored the low growl that filled the diner. Sicheng rolled his eyes before glaring back.

“I’d rather have my freedom,” Taeyong said.

Mrs. Moon laughed, “freedom? You’re still bound to that bloodbag over there,” she pointed at Yuta. “But I really don’t care, our deal is done.”

Taeyong’s lips pursed. “I know.” He sighed, “I’m going to go outside and get some air,” he mumbled to Johnny.

Johnny nodded and Taeyong stood up, his chair screeching against the tile.

“I-I’m going to make sure he’s okay” Yuta said, standing up to follow Taeyong out to the beach as the door slammed shut behind him.

Mrs. Moon tsked as Yuta left. “You really want to be like that?” She asked Taeil, “pathetic, always following after a mate because you’re bound to each other?”

Taeil nodded. “It’s not pathetic.”

“It is. Werewolves have no concept of independence, all because of some predestined construct you have no control over.” She said quietly, briefly catching eye contact with Doyoung. “I don’t want that for you.”

“I don’t think it matters what you want for me,” Taeil said, “we’re in love, and that matters the most.”

Mrs. Moon’s eyes turned even colder, if that’s possible. “Then you will no longer be considered a Moon.”

Taeil glared back. “I wouldn’t want anything else.”

“He’s already a Seo anyways,” Johnny said, hugging Taeil closer to him. “So I really don’t see what problem there could be.”

Mrs. Moon stood up, her eyes locked on Taeil. “Then it’s settled. You’ve lost a mother, and in return, you’ve gained someone who only loves you because his wolf told him to.” She said heavily.

Taeil stood up as well. “You know it doesn’t have to end like this, don’t blame me. It’s your fault that you refuse to accept your son’s happiness.”

“I don’t have a son anymore.” She spat and stalked out of the diner, Sicheng and Jungwoo at her heels.

Taeil slammed his hand against the table. “Bitch!”

“Well I think that went well,” Renjun smiled, “anyone want coffee?”

 

“So everything’s good now?”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said. His hair was flipping weirdly in the wind and Doyoung laughed, combing his fingers through the front to tame the strands.

“So everything is peaceful again, just like that.” Doyoung said, his head resting on Jaehyun’s shoulder, his feet buried in the sand. After the meeting, it was like the entire town breathed out a sigh of relief, like World War III was just avoided. That was a day ago, and Doyoung was still reeling with what happened. “Huh, weird.”

“Why?”

“I dunno, it just feels like everything has happened so fast.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said, his face glowing in the light of the sunrise as water lapped at their feet. “But sometimes fast is good.”

“Why?”

“It means you don’t have time to overthink things, you just go with the flow.” Jaehyun said and smiled at Doyoung.

Doyoung lifted his head, staring into Jaehyun’s amber eyes, “but now that everything’s done it’s all hitting me! And I’m kind of having a very overdue freak out!”

Jaehyun laughed, and Doyoung scoffed, offended before he broke down into laughter too. “Calm down, we can just take it all in, slowly.” Jaehyun said, leaning forward until their foreheads knocked against each other and he grinned, his dimples carving into his face. Doyoung flushed before sputtering out a response.

“First you’re saying to go fast, now you want to go slow, decide already—mmph!” Doyoung was caught off guard by Jaehyun hooking his fingers under his chin, pulling the other forward until their lips met in the middle. Doyoung’s wide eyes fluttered shut in the sweet kiss, his fingers digging into the sand. He pulled away, Jaehyun chasing him, grinning. Doyoung leaned back.

They listened to the waves crash around them. “So Chenle and Yangyang volunteered for Jeno and Jisung.”

Doyoung shot up, “for the ritual?”

Jaehyun frowned. “Yeah. Looks like we’ll have two new witches in town.”

“And two new fae.”

“Yuta is kind of upset about it, but that’s understandable. He made sure that Chenle and Yangyang knew what they were getting into.”

“It’s weird, thinking about how my brother is a witch.”

“You could be too, I’d turn fae for you,” Jaehyun said, grinning.

“Yeah right. Besides, I don’t think I want to become a part of all of,” Doyoung gestured around him, “this stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“All of this supernatural stuff.”

Jaehyun paused, “you kind of already are.”

Doyoung sighed. “I could move?”

Jaehyun sat up, staring at Doyoung in horror. “No you can't!”

Doyoung frowned, “it was just an idea, calm down—”

“You can’t move!” Jaehyun said harshly before catching himself and breathing in deeply, trying to calm down. “San Marco is our home.”

“It’s just a place Jaehyun.”

“It’s more than that.”

“What’s with this connection to San Marco? Don’t you want to go out and see the world?” Doyoung snapped over the sound of cawing seagulls.

“Well yes but—”

“What are you afraid of?”

“This is all I’ve ever known.” Jaehyun said flatly. “And this is all I ever want to know.”

Doyoung stood up, wiping the sand off of his legs. “I’m not like that though.”

“Hey,” Jaehyun reached out, grabbing Doyoung’s wrist before he could move away, “why are you so upset all of a sudden?”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Doyoung mumbled as Jaehyun stood up. “I meant it, before, when I said that everything was moving too fast.”

“Yeah, but you have me.”

“What if you came with me?”

“What? Leave San Marco?”

“Yeah, we could get out, leave, start again—”

“No.” Jaehyun said, “I can’t, I have too much here. So do you.”

“I’m in over my head.” Doyoung said, staring into Jaehyun’s eyes, “you, you might be right at home here but me, it’s like I’m in a whole new world.” He slipped out of Jaehyun’s grasp, “I think I need some time to myself.”

“I’ll always be there for you,” Jaehyun called as Doyoung walked down the beach.

“No, you’ll always be here,” Doyoung muttered.

 

“Honey, some mail came in for you,” Doyoung’s mom slid a letter across the tabletop counter. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Doyoung said, prying open the seal. His eyes widened, reading over the letter. “Oh my god.”

Doyoung’s mother walked around to look over Doyoung’s shoulder and smiled, putting her hand on her son’s back. “Congratulations!”

“I didn’t think I’d get in, I was wait-listed so—”

“Oh honey,” she smiled, “this calls for a celebration.”

Doyoung frowned slightly looking down at the letter, the words being imprinted in his mind.

_Dear Kim Doyoung,_

_It is with great pride that I offer you a place in the upcoming class of Waybilt Vail University!_

Jeno walked into the kitchen, eating an apple. “What’s with all the noise?” He glanced down at the letter, picking it up. “Oh hey, what’s this?”

Doyoung’s brows furrowed. “It’s an option.”

  



	14. XIV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forcing your friends to go on a blind date counts as bonding time, right? At least, that's what Doyoung hopes.

Doyoung tried to avoid Jaehyun, as much as he can. It’s hard though, when his two best friends just moved into the avoidee’s house. He was sitting on Taeyong’s new bed, uncomfortable with the thought that Jaehyun was a mere few rooms over, when Taeil walked in, looking like he was in the clouds. “What’s up?” Doyoung asked.

“The usual,” Taeyong rolled his eyes at the same time Taeil smiled.

“The boys want to go down to the beach. We should go too!” Taeil said.

Taeyong shrugged, “I could use some beach time. Doyoung?”

Doyoung frowned, “I guess.”

That’s how he found himself where he was now, crammed in the backseat with Taeyong awkwardly. It was tense in the back two rows, which consisted of Doyoung and Taeyong, with Yuta and Jaehyun in front of them. Taeil and Johnny sat in the front, blissfully unaware of the atmosphere behind them.

Doyoung refused to look Jaehyun in the eyes as they pulled into the parking lot for the beach. He hopped out of the car as soon as he could, breathing in the salty air.

Taeyong smiled, looking happier than ever to be back on the beach.

“You like the ocean?” Yuta asked, coming up behind him. Taeyong jerked back slightly.

“Oh, uh yeah.”

Yuta nodded. “Do you surf?”

“A little,” Taeyong said hesitantly. 

“Ah,” Yuta said before pausing. “Uh, do you want to surf now?” He asked.

Taeyong bit his lip. “That would be nice.”

“I have an extra board you could use.” Yuta said.

“Oh!” Taeyong said, surprised, “really?”

“Yeah,” Yuta smiled awkwardly, “it’s the least I could do.” They stood there, not moving for a few seconds until Yuta’s eyes widened. “Oh! Uh, it’s in the back, let me just grab it.”

Doyoung watched the entire exchange in mild amusement.

“At least they don’t hate each other.”

Doyoung sighed, “yeah. That’s nice Jaehyun.”

The other frowned, looking at Doyoung. “Jesus, we got into one fight and you’re going to ignore me?”

Doyoung stared back, making eye contact with the wolf for the first time in a week. “I’ve had a lot on my mind. I wasn’t aware that I needed to tell you everything.” He glared.

“What?” Jaehyun shook his head, “shit, Doyoung it’s whatever. I just don’t like not hearing from you.”

Doyoung scowled. “Yeah I think they’re getting closer.”

“Who?” Jaehyun said, confused. “I thought we were talking about—”

“Yuta and Taeyong,” Doyoung said, “things are still awkward between them, but not as much.” They both watched as Yuta led Taeyong towards the ocean, a bright blue surfboard in hand. Taeil and Johnny were already on the beach, laughing as they set up a large umbrella.

“What’s been on your mind lately Doyoung?” Jaehyun asked.

Doyoung frowned. “Nothing really. It’s not that important.” Jaehyun looked at Doyoung before sighing.

“Once you change your mind and decide to tell me, I’ll be here to listen.”

 

Over the next few days, Doyoung watched from the sidelines as Yuta and Taeyong slowly grew closer. It was horribly awkward, and each encounter made Doyoung want to stick his head into the ground and scream due to the second-hand-embarrassment. After the fourth consecutive day in a row where Taeyong accidentally bumped into Yuta and he had to witness the way both of their faces turned red, he’d had enough.

 

“Listen,” Doyoung said, slamming open the door. Jaehyun looked up from where he was sitting at his desk, music playing from his speakers. “We have to do something.”

Jaehyun dropped his pen, leaning back and looking at Doyoung. “About what?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“You know,” Doyoung gestured wildly, “them!”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “Yuta and Taeyong.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun frowned. “Shouldn’t we just leave them up to themselves? It’s not our place.”

“They aren’t going to go anywhere without help from us.”

“Doyoung,” Jaehyun sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Please?” Doyoung asked, blinking innocently. 

Jaehyun pursed his lips. “Fine, I guess. What should we do?”

 

It was all so easy, really. Easier than Doyoung expected. All he had to do was ask Taeyong to meet him at Huang’s one morning, while Jaehyun did the same to Yuta. 

Doyoung sank further into the booth, desperately trying not to be seen by the pair who was sitting behind them. Jaehyun peeked slightly over a menu before ducking down again.

“What the fuck is going on?” Taeyong had exclaimed when he figured out what was happening, about to leave the diner. That is, until Yuta reached out.

“Hey, stay. They obviously set this up.” Yuta had said. Taeyong eyed him suspiciously before sitting down again.

Now it was awkward, the only sounds behind Doyoung being the flipping of a menu.

“Hey,” Renjun said, walking up to them. Jaehyun and Doyoung frantically waved him away and the fae rolled his eyes before stepping to the side so he was in front of Taeyong and Yuta again. “What can I get for you two?”

“Uh I guess I’ll have a burger?” Yuta said.

“Pancakes.” Taeyong ordered.

“Lit,” Renjun muttered while jotting them down. “Your food will be out in a bit, have fun on your blind date.”

Doyoung wanted to bang his head against the table at the sound of Taeyong’s sputters but stopped when Yuta spoke up.

“Hey, it’s not a bad thing.” Yuta said. Jaehyun raised his eyebrows from behind his menu.

“But,” Taeyong said, “we hate each other.”

“Do we?” Yuta asked. “Listen, I feel like we both made a lot of mistakes in the past. We should just start over again.”

Taeyong hesitated. “Should we?” He sighed, “I’ll admit, we both did pretty fucked up things to each other.”

“Yeah,” Yuta said awkwardly, “I’m sorry about everything. Honestly.”

“I’m sorry too,” Taeyong said, “but also what you did was understandable, I mean Hansol was your best friend—”

“Yeah but I was also the one who forced you into the Moon’s, that was horrible.”

“Yeah,” Taeyong said. There was a pause, “I do want to start over though, maybe we should just put everything behind us.”

“That would be nice,” Doyoung glanced behind him quickly to see Yuta smile softly.

“There is one thing I’d like to get off my chest though,” Taeyong said slowly.

“Oh?”

“Hansol, I used to know him.”

Doyoung could hear the confusion in Yuta’s voice when he responded, “yeah, we all did.”

“No I mean like,” Taeyong sighed, “he was a spirit right?”

“Yeah,” Yuta said slowly.

“Witches can see spirits, we—I mean they—can talk to them and interact with them.”

_ “Oh.” _

“He’s doing okay.” Taeyong said, “I’ve been making sure of it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Yuta paused. “Thank you.” He said quietly. Then he suddenly changed his tone, “hey do you want to maybe get out of here?”

“Huh?”

“We can go walk down the beach or something,” Yuta said hopefully.

“Um,” Taeyong hesitated, “yeah that would be nice.” Doyoung nearly squeaked as he exchanged panicked looks with Jaehyun while Taeyong and Yuta stood up, walking past them. Luckily, it didn’t seem like they even noticed.

“Hey!” Renjun called as Yuta opened the door, “what about your food?”

“The food?” Yuta asked, “oh, just give it to Doyoung and Jaehyun spying behind us.” Unanimously, Doyoung and Jaehyun turned bright red. Before Doyoung could yell at Yuta however, the duo were out of the diner.

“Shit,” Doyoung swore, hiding his flushed cheeks behind his hands.

“Well, it didn’t go terribly.” Jaehyun said, trying to console Doyoung.

“I guess,” Doyoung sighed. Renjun walked over, dropping off Yuta and Taeyong’s food.

“You guys better pay for this shit,” he said before leaving again.

Doyoung glared, “maybe we should leave a bad Yelp review.”

“I doubt that would do anything,” Jaehyun said and laughed, picking at his french fries. “To be honest, I kind of missed this.”

“Missed what?”

“Coming here and just talking to you.”

Doyoung blinked. “Oh.”

“And it’s nice, you’re not avoiding me anymore.” Jaehyun gave Doyoung a pointed look, the impact lessened by the fact that he immediately stuffed a french fry in his mouth.

Doyoung flushed, “I wasn’t.”

“Bullshit,” Jaehyun said, “you were.”

“Fine,” Doyoung sighed. “I was.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Jaehyun asked.

“No? Yes? I don’t know, there’s just a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?”

“Um—”

“Is it about what we were talking about before? You leaving?” Jaehyun frowned.

“Uh, yeah.”

Jaehyun sighed. “Okay, I still don’t like it.”

Doyoung looked out the window, avoiding Jaehyun’s gaze. “I got into my dream school.”

Jaehyun’s brows furrowed together. “I thought you were going to Neo Cultural, what do you mean?”

“I was uh, waitlisted at Waybilt Vail.”

“That’s a good school,” Jaehyun said slowly.

“But I got off the waitlist, I just got a letter about it.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun said, his face dropping. “Congratulations.”

“It’s really,” Doyoung chose his words carefully, “exciting.”

“Are you going to go?” Jaehyun shook his head, “wait no, obviously you’re going to go. It’s your  _ dream school.”  _ He has a sour expression on his face.

“I’ve been thinking about it. A lot.” Doyoung said, smiling tightly.

“Ah, good. That’s good.” Jaehyun repeated, “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Doyoung said. “But I haven’t said yes yet.”

Jaehyun looked down at the plate. “It would be the best for you if you did, right?”

Doyoung hesitated before nodding. “It’s a chance for me to explore the world.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said, “it would.”

“I’m not,” Doyoung frowned, trying to figure out how to word this, “I’m not trying to run away from you.”

“I didn’t say you were.” Jaehyun responded. “I’ve been thinking too.”

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re right,” Jaehyun said slowly, “I think it’s good for you to see the world. Do what’s best for you.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Doyoung started, “but—”

“No I get it,” Jaehyun said.

“I wish I could have both,” Doyoung said.

“Hey,” Jaehyun said, and Doyoung looked over at Jaehyun, making eye contact with the other. “We’re not going to be apart forever, besides you wanted a natural relationship. Distance, it’s not anything we can help.”

“So, I’m going to say yes.”

Jaehyun nodded. “I’ll support you.”

Doyoung smiled, “thank you.” He felt better. He knew, deep inside, that he was going to say yes regardless of what Jaehyun thought of it, but it felt good that Jaehyun agreed. “It means a lot.”

“Right,” Jaehyun swallowed, smiling slightly. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

“What about the food?” Doyoung asked, gesturing to the full plate in front of him.

Jaehyun threw down some money, “hope that’s enough.” He said, standing up out of his seat and outstretching his hand. Doyoung allowed himself to be pulled out of the old leather booth. “If not, Renjun owes me a few.”

“Where are we going?”

“Home,” Jaehyun smiled. “If you’re going to leave, we might as well make the most of the time we have now.”

 

Yuta and Taeyong arrived back to the Seo home, hand-in-hand. They refused to look at anyone as they parted in the living room, much to the delight of Doyoung and Jaehyun who had been sitting on the couch watching a movie the entire time.

“Shut up,” Taeyong hissed as he marched up to his room. Yuta looked around awkwardly before mumbling something about going to the kitchen.

Doyoung smiled burying his chin further into Jaehyun’s shoulder. He hadn’t expected himself to be the cuddly type, but he was pretty content in Jaehyun’s arms, he had to admit. “I’m gonna go upstairs and ask Taeyong what happened,” Doyoung mumbled against Jaehyun’s skin.

The other laughed, unwinding his arm so Doyoung could escape. “I’ll talk to Yuta in the kitchen.”

“Pause the movie,” Doyoung called while jumping up the stairs, two at a time.

“Get out of my room,” Taeyong said as soon as Doyoung waltzed in, whistling.

“I take that it went well?” Doyoung teased. Sitting down on the bed that Taeyong was face down on.

Taeyong mumbled into his pillow.

“What was that?”

Taeyong turned his head to the side, “it was nice,” he said quietly.

Doyoung hummed. “That’s good.”

Taeyong looked down, avoiding Doyoung’s knowing gaze. “We decided to give it a try.”

“Well,” Doyoung smiled, “that’s very good.”

“Yeah,” Taeyong said quietly. “There’s a long way to go though.”

“I know,” Doyoung said, “we all have a long way to go.”

 

He was walking back downstairs when he passed Johnny’s office, low voices muttering inside. He quickened his pace, mind flashing back to the last time he heard voices coming from Johnny’s office. He shuddered, he didn’t want to see Johnny and Taeil in that kind of position ever again. He was almost past the office when he heard his name. Doyoung froze, curiosity taking over as he paused.

“Doyoung’s going to be leaving,” Doyoung’s brows furrowed at the sound of Jaehyun’s voice. “And I already told you my idea.”

“I don’t know Jae.” Johnny responded.

“We could do it.”

“Not for a long time. Years probably.”

“Remember what you were talking about earlier? Fresh starts?”

There was a pause before Johnny responded. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” Jaehyun’s voice got closer and Doyoung panicked, quickly walking down the hallway before the door opened.

Odd.

 

“Hey,” Jaehyun breathed out, “we’re good right?”

“Jaehyun, I’m laying on your bed right now. You were just kissing me,” he smiled, “we’re good.”

“Perfect,” Jaehyun purred. He stood up, making sure to close the door to his room. “I have a lot of time to make up for.” Jaehyun walked back over, sliding on top of Doyoung. Doyoung laughed, hooking his arms around Jaehyun’s neck, his eyes fluttering shut.

Their lips slid together, Doyoung sighing and melting into the kiss. “I look forward to it,” he mumbled against Jaehyun’s lips. Doyoung just felt Jaehyun smile in response.

  
  



	15. XV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung says his goodbyes.

Summer is a weird season. On one hand, days seem to go by achingly slow, hours wasted doing absolutely nothing. On the other hand, if you blink it’ll already be over. That is what Doyoung realized, this year more so than others considering he was packing his entire life up into cardboard boxes, ready to be taken hours away.

“How many shoes are you going to need?” Taeil grumbled as he struggled with the heavy box. “This seems like way too many.”

“They all serve a purpose,” Doyoung said, grabbing a sneaker that was about to fall off the top. He gingerly held the white shoe, “for example, this pair of white sneakers is unlike my other pairs of white sneakers because it’s sporty enough to be worn if I ever feel the need to go to the gym.”

“Like that’s gonna happen,” Taeyong snorted as he tried to shove a pillow into another box. Doyoung glared at him. “What? We all know it’s true.”

Doyoung sighed, giving up and glancing around his room–well, not for long. In actuality, the room hadn’t really been his for at least a month now, considering he spent more time at the Seo’s than his own house. The desk was covered in dust and Doyoung wiped off the thin layer on a framed photo of him and Jeno, placing it into yet another cardboard box. “This is, like, really weird,” he said, mouth quirking to the side.

Taeyong paused, “yeah,” he looked around the bare room, “it kind of is.”

The door was pushed open as Taeil hurried down the stairs with his box, allowing another figure to step into the room. Jaehyun walked over, pecking Doyoung lightly on the lips before snagging another box. “I think we’re almost done,” he said, smiling.

“Okay,” Doyong said, “there’s just a little bit left up here. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Jaehyun nodded in response before exiting with his box.

As he did, Taeil entered the room again, empty handed. “Jesus who knew shoes could be that heavy,” he whined.

“So,” Taeyong said, finally having pushed the pillow into the box and sitting down on Doyong’s bed, “what are you two?”

“Huh?” Doyoung asked, too busy inspecting an old stuffed animal and wondering if it was worth taking.

“Yeah,” Taeil said, “Johnny and I were talking about it actually. Are you and Jaehyun technically dating?”

“You guys talk about us?” Doyoung raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” Taeil hesitated.

“Answer the question,” Taeyong rolled his eyes, seeing through Doyoung’s diversion tactic. “Are you guys official or anything?”

“I could be asking you the same question,” Doyoung said, eyeing Taeyong. The other flushed, looking down.

“It’s more of a go-with-the-flow kind of thing,” he muttered.

“Same here,” Doyoung said, “I don’t think we need labels or anything, we’re taking it slow. We’re just always, I dunno, us.”

“Doie,” Taeil said, “I see you guys walking around with hickies every single day. I feel like you should at least clarify that you’re official.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes, throwing the last of his belongings into the final box and picking it up. “It’s whatever.”

 

“God dammit, just close the door!” Doyoung walked outside into the heat to see Jaehyun and Johnny struggling to cram some of Doyong’s stuff into the backseat of his car.

Taeil laughed as they finally closed the door. “You’re so high maintenance Doie.”

“Tell me about it,” Jaehyun groaned but still curled his arm around Doyoung’s waist.

“Oh my baby, he’s growing up and leaving for college,” Doyoung’s mom said. Doyoung stepped away from Jaehyun, wrapping his parents in a quick hug.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, pulling back and smiling. His father beamed back at him while his mother tried to blink back tears.

“Oh we know, but that won’t stop us from worrying.”

Doyoung smiled sadly, “I love you,” he said before throwing his arms around them again.

“Don’t forget about us!” Taeyong laughed, joining the family group hug and pulling Taeil into it too.

“How could I?” Doyoung snorted. He wriggled out of their grip, “you guys are so annoying but I guess I’ll miss you.”

“We’ll visit,” Taeil said, his eyes scarily genuine, “we’ll just show up at your dorm room whenever we want.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Doyoung rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Johnny said, walking up to them and pulling Taeil closer to him by his shoulders, “I’ll keep them in check.”

“Me too!” Yuta grinned. Taeyong snickered.

“Yeah, like it’s not the opposite way around,” he muttered, ignoring Yuta’s whines.

“We’ll miss you,” Johnny said, awkwardly reaching out a hand and patting Doyoung on the shoulder.

“Yeah dungeon buddy,” Yuta smiled, “remember to call us.”

“I will,” Doyoung said.

“I’ll make sure of it,” Jaehyun added. Doyoung turned away from them, staring down at his brother.

“Renjun, Jisung,” his brother’s friends perked up, “keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t die.”

“Of course,” Jisung said, “but usually he’s the one making sure we don’t die.”

Doyoung sighed, “oh my god you guys are going to be the death of me.”

“Hey!” Donghyuck wrapped a tanned arm around Jeno’s shoulders, “don’t worry, they have us now.”

Jaemin, Chenle, Mark, and Yukhei smiled at him innocently.

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Doyoung mumbled.

“I’ll be fine,” Jeno smiled up at him angelically, and Doyoung melted.

“Oh,” Doyoung wrapped his arms around Jeno, just barely hearing Jaehyun open the car door behind him, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“You’re choking me,” his brother said, his voice muffled by Doyoung’s chest. “But I’ll miss you too.” He mumbled.

“I love you,” Doyoung pulled away, feeling surprisingly emotional.

“C’mon Doyoung, we gotta get going,” Jaehyun called from inside the car.

“I’m busy!” Doyoung yelled back, hugging Jeno even tighter. “You better not get yourself hurt out there or in trouble again, or I’ll move straight back, okay?” He said, pulling back and glaring into his brother’s eyes.

“I won’t get in trouble,” Jeno said, determined. “I’m going to protect everyone with my super-cool magic skills. I’ll be like Harry Potter.”

“I don’t think you comparing yourself to Harry Potter is making Doyoung feel any better.” Renjun’s sarcastic comment was lessened by the fact that Na Jaemin was hanging off of him, chattering excitedly into his ear. 

“Be good,” Doyoung said as Jaehyun in the background started calling for him again.

“I will,” Jeno said, “I love you too.”

Doyoung reluctantly let go of Jeno, pulling open the car door and sliding into the crammed car. “Bye!” All of his friends and family called out as they pulled out of the driveway.

Doyoung stuck his head out, waving until he couldn’t even see them.

Jaehyun sighed, rolling up the window and turning the radio on, soft music filling the car. “Are you good?”

Doyoung pouted, staring out the window. “No,” he said, “I don’t want to leave.”

Jaehyun let out a snort, his hand reaching over and intertwining with Doyoung’s, the other on the wheel. “Don’t say that, we both know how excited you are.”

“Yeah,” Doyoung sniffed, “but I didn’t want to leave everyone.” Jaehyun’s thumb rubs over his hand.

“It’s hard, but it’s part of life I guess,” he said. “Besides, now you can see the world, right?”

“But I kind of wanted to see the world with everyone I loved.” Doyoung said, looking at Jaehyun.

The other kept his eyes on the road but smiled widely, his dimples carving into his face. “Don’t worry, I’ll only be 30 minutes away.”

“Maybe I wasn’t referring to you,” Doyoung teased.

“You were,” Jaehyun said.

“Hm,” Doyoung smiled, looking out as the familiar scenery changed to the highway. “When’s your move-in day again?”

“A few days after yours, I think.” Jaehyun said, “it’ll give me enough time to grab all my stuff in San Marco and come back.” He frowned, “but since I was such a late transfer I have to do a lot of paperwork in the office when I get there.”

“Ew, paperwork,” Doyoung stuck his tongue out. “Are you sure about this?”

Jaehyun glanced over quickly, “sure? Of course I’m sure.”

“It’s a big decision,” Doyoung said worriedly.

“I thought we’ve already had this conversation.” Jaehyun grinned, “too late to back out now.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes.

“Doyoung, Doie, baby, babe, bunny—”

“Oh my god shut up.”

Jaehyun laughed loudly, “I transferred to a college 30 minutes away from you so we could be together, okay? We’ve already gone over this so many times, don’t doubt the plan.”

“What plan?” Doyoung raised his eyebrows.

“Nothing,” Jaehyun smiled secretly.

“I’ll break up with you right now if you don’t tell me.”

Jaehyun snorted, “to break up with me we have to be dating first.”

Doyoung flushed pink, “well, I guess you can be my boyfriend then.”

“Oh wow. I’m so excited.” Jaehyun deadpanned.

Doyoung smacked his chest—his  _ boyfriend’s  _ chest—”Hey!”

Jaehyun laughed, “what?”

Doyung pouted. “Well I guess you don’t  _ want _ to be my boyfriend—”

Jaehyun brought their intertwined hands up to his lips, “no, I’m happy. Honestly, I’d be good with anything, ya know?”

“Anything?” Doyoung asked.

“Yeah, anything really. Like, I don’t know, go with the flow?” Jaehyun smiled. “I’d be happy with anything, as long as we’re together.”

Doyoung paused, his heart growing warm and fuzzy. Maybe this is what Taeil always talked about. “To new beginnings.” He said, hopeful.

“To new beginnings,” Jaehyun agreed.

“To going with the flow,” he added.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun smirked, “you know what bunny?”

Doyoung briefly raised his eyebrow at the nickname, “what?”

Jaehyun tore his eyes off of the road, turning and winking at Doyoung. “Baby, we’re like ocean waves.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone for reading this giant mess of a fic! i had so much fun writing and world building but honestly i'm glad it's coming to an end :')  
> (up next: an epilogue of sorts)


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung welcomes the new pack in town.

_ Four Years Later _

“What do you  _ mean  _ you lost Jaemin?”

Doyoung sighed, one hand holding up his phone to his ear and another sliding down his face in exasperation. “Babe,” Jaehyun’s voice crackled through the speaker, “I was bringing him and the kids down to the supermarket to pick up food and I dunno, one second Donghyuck was with him, and then I turned around and he was gone.”

“Well,” Doyoung slammed his hand down on the marble countertop,  _ “find him,”  _ he hissed into the phone.

“I will—” Doyoung hung up in frustration, staring at the ceiling and wishing death upon himself and his boyfriend.

“What’s up?” Taeil walked into the room, carrying a large box labeled “Johnny’s Kitchen Supplies (Ten Do Not Touch.)” He set the box down heavily on the countertop. “You seem stressed.”

“Of course I’m stressed!” Doyoung exclaimed, “I literally just graduated college, I’m trying to help you guys move into a new home, and apparently Jaehyun just lost Jaemin at the store! Jaemin doesn’t know the area at all oh my god, what if he gets kidnapped or—”

“Woah,” Taeil glanced behind him from where he was stacking dishes into the cupboard, “calm down.”

“What do we have to calm down about?” Taeyong entered the room, also carrying a box.

“Jaehyun lost Jaemin,” Taeil said while Doyoung contemplated smashing his head into the countertop.

“Already?” Taeyong said, shaking his head. “And to be honest, I thought Yuta would be the first to go.”

“Someone talkin’ shit?” Yuta ducked his head into the doorway, casually wielding an armchair off of his shoulder.

“Me,” Taeyong said happily before he walked over and grabbed the other end of the chair. “And stop showing off, you’re gonna break some furniture and Johnny will murder you.”

There was a knock at the door. “Speaking of Johnny, I think that’s him with the other moving van.” Taeil muttered, walking out of the kitchen.

The rest of the day flew around Doyoung in chaos, the human trying and failing to wrangle the entire Seo pack into their brand new home. Halfway through, Jaemin showed up at the door casually. Five minutes later, a panicked Jaehyun and crew arrived only to see Jaemin helping set up a bookcase in the living room.

 

“Doie,” Jaehyun whined, following Doyoung as he placed all of Jaehyun’s clothes into his drawers. “Are you mad at me?”

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “No.”

“Then why are you so tense?”

“Because your entire pack decided to get up and  _ leave  _ San Marco and come move here in my new town!” Doyong snapped, “oh my god this is so stressful.”

Jaehyun leaned down, resting his hands on Doyoung’s shoulders. “Hey, don’t worry. We got this, okay? And besides, moving to Waybilt will be good for us. Fresh start, without any of the baggage that came with San Marco. Besides, there’s even a beach!”

Doyoung glared, “don’t you dare think of going down to Beach 116 and leaving the rest of us here to set up the new house.”

Jaehyun looked around guiltily. “Well, I was thinking more along the lines that we’d  _ both  _ go.”

“Oh no,” Doyoung said, “there’s too much to do, we are not leaving.”

Jaehyun glanced down, pouted, and then looked back into Doyoung’s eyes. Doyoung felt his perseverance waivering at the sight of those puppy eyes but still, he resisted. “Please?”

Doyoung crumbled. “Fine.”

 

The beach was new, unfamiliar, but at the same time it felt like home. Doyoung laughed as him and Jaehyun ran across the sand, the heat almost unbearable under his feet. The cool water felt blissful and Doyoung shrieked when Jaehyun leaned down, wrapping an arm around his back and another around his knees, successfully sweeping him off his feet. “Stop!” Doyoung said in between laughs, his arms a tight grip around Jaehyun’s neck.

Jaehyun grinned in return, walked deeper and deeper into the ocean, “nope!”

“I swear to god Jaehyun, ah!” Doyoung was unceremoniously dropped into the shallow water, the water immediately soaking him to the bone. He sputtered out the salty water as Jaehyun laughed above him, narrowing his eyes and reaching out a hand too grip into the bottom of his t-shirt.

Jaehyun yelped in surprise as he fell down into the water next to him, a giant splash raining over the two. “Hey!” Jaehyun yelled, struggling to stand back up on his feet. “That was mean,” he smiled, wrapping arms around the back of Doyoung’s wet t-shirt and pulling their chests together.

“You did it first,” Doyoung mirrored Jaehyun’s smile, his eyes flickering down to his lips.

“Mhm, I did,” Jaehyun mumbled, “but now we’re both wet.”

“Good,” Doyoung said, “then you won’t complain when I do this.” He leaned forward, their lips slotting together.

The salty air pierced Doyoung’s nose and the seagulls above screeched, but he felt right at home, Jaehyun’s lips against his.

 

_ “They’re very cute.”  _

“Who?”

The man standing on the beach rolled his eyes despite knowing that the person on the other side of the call wouldn’t be able to see him. He squinted, watching the couple splash each other in the water in between stealing kisses. “That new couple. I think they’re from the pack that just moved in.”

“So then the witch was right? There is a new werewolf pack moving into our territory?”

“Junmyeon please, the witch has a name.”

“Okay so Kyungsoo was right?” The stranger could practically hear the exasperation from the other.

“Yeah, him and his little ‘spirit spies’ or whatever. He said that the one ghost from San Marco, Hansol or something, has been following the pack and reporting back to him. No word yet on whether or not they’re a threat.”

“We should always assume the worst, Baekhyun.”

“I know.” The stranger narrowed his eyes, the dark irises shining amber in the golden light.

_ “Maybe we should pay our new neighbors a little visit.” _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fin.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/markleewyd)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/xuminghaooutsold)


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